Health Snapshots

Mental health

More than 2 in 10 (20.9%) children and young people 5-17 years used a mental health service in South Australia in 2018-19. The services included psychologist, psychiatrist, other community mental health services and online/phone services.

In 2018-19, almost 20% of children and young people 5-17 years in South Australia had been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as depression, ADHD, conduct disorder, anxiety or other conditions. Of these children and young people, more than half (55%) received treatment for their mental health concerns.

In both the Adelaide metropolitan area of Onkaparinga and the regional area of Murray and Mallee more than 600 children and young people had used a community mental health care service in 2017-18.

Asthma

Asthma (chronic inflammation of the airways) is a common respiratory condition. Asthma may start during childhood and continue throughout life. In 2017-18, an estimated 16% of children and young people aged 2-17 years in South Australia reported having experienced symptoms of, or having received treatment for asthma in the previous 12 months.

Asthma in South Australia is more prevalent in young people aged 10-17 years (18%) than children aged 2-9 years (15%). Girls or young women (17%) are more likely to have the condition than boys or young men (15%).

Overall health

The wellbeing and engagement collection (WEC) is an annual survey conducted by the Department for Education that asks students about their overall general health. In 2018 the WEC was completed by 65,000 year 4 to year 10 students from 524 schools.

In 2018, 81% of all year 4 to year 10 students were satisfied with their overall health (up slightly from 80% in 2016). The proportions of Aboriginal students and students with disability who reported being satisfied with their overall health was 79% and 75% respectively. Year 4 students were more likely to be satisfied with their overall health (88%) compared to year 10 students (69%).

In metropolitan Adelaide, the region with the highest proportion of year 4 to year 10 students satisfied with their overall health was Unley (89%). In regional/remote South Australia the region with the highest proportion was Yorke Peninsula (83%).