Every Child Counts

During the first 1000 days a child’s health is particularly vulnerable.  Warm, dry housing, plenty of nourishing food, protection from contagious disease and access to primary health care are essential. Low family income means young children are particularly at risk as a consequence of sub-standard housing, inadequate diet, and parental stress.

Did you know that -

Physical health

• As at December 2010, only 88 percent of NZ children were fully immunised by the age of two.
• An immunisation rate of 95 percent is needed to ensure the population is safe from disease.
• A third of all children under one year of age will have episodes of wheezing and coughing. Some of them are never very troubled by what is not much more than noisy breathing (wheeze). Most will not have this trouble after the age of three. Over time about one quarter of children will prove to have asthma.
• There were a total of 783 fetal and infant deaths registered in 2007.
• The infant death rate for the total population declined from 7.3 deaths per 1000 live births in 1996 to 4.8 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007.
• In 32.4 percent of 2007 infant deaths, the baby died within the first 24 hours of life.

Child poverty

• Family poverty can deprive children of warm secure housing, adequate diet, access to primary health care, access to early childhood services.
• Family poverty stresses parents which can be very damaging to an infant’s social and emotional brain development.
• In 2006 29.5% of births were to mothers living in the most deprived areas (deciles 9 and 10).
• At the same time only 14.3% of births were to mothers living in the least deprived areas (deciles 1 and 2).
• Almost half of all New Zealand births were to families living in rental accommodation.

Check out key reason no.7.