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Measuring child health: Breaking ground in B.C.

April 11th, 2011

A new report in British Columbia highlights ways to better understand and monitor the health and well-being of children and youth, while also noting unique challenges in addressing the health of the province's Aboriginal children -  who face greater health risks, more suicide attempts, poorer performance at school, and twice the risk of exposure to alcohol or drugs while in the womb.

"Growing Up In B.C.," is a joint effort of the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth and the Provincial Health Officer, and is the the first report in Canada seeking to establish a baseline of data to support policy change in child and youth health. It identifies 30 indicators of well-being to determine answers to such questions as:

• Are babies born healthy?
• What is happening with children and youth in the care of the government?
• What is unique about the well-being of Aboriginal children and youth?
• What do young people think are important indicators of their own well-being?

Launched at the 2010 Champions for Children and Youth Summit in Vancouver, "Growing Up in B.C." provides a first step to improving the circumstances and outcomes for B.C.'s children and youth.  The questions address both positive and negative issues, from youth suicide, abuse and alcohol or drug use, to volunteerism, high school graduation rates, and positive connections in communities and with caring adults. 

"The goal from all of this is to identify a detailed set of indicators that can influence child and youth health and well-being, and that can be tracked by government over time," said Dr. Perry Kendall, BC Provincial Health Officer.

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