Aboriginal Children, History and Health

This volume traces the complex reasons behind the disturbing discrepancy between the health and well-being of children in mainstream Australia and those in remote Indigenous communities. Invaluably informed by Boulton's close working knowledge of Aboriginal communities, the book addresses growth faltering as a crisis of Aboriginal parenting and a continued problem for the Australian nation. The high rate and root causes of ill-health amongst Aboriginal children are explored through a unique synthesis of historical, anthropological, biological and medical analyses. Through this fresh approach, which includes the insights of specialists from a range of disciplines, Aboriginal Children, History and Health provides a thoughtful and innovative framework for considering Indigenous health.

John Boulton is Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Foreword (Colin Tatz). Preface Part 1 The child in the human story Chapter 2 The child and nurture in the human story Gaynor Macdonald and John Boulton Chapter 3 Childhood in deep human history: The evolutionary origins of human childhood Ze'ev Hochberg Chapter 4 Traditions of Aboriginal parenting Gaynor Macdonald Part 2 The child in political history Chapter 5 A history of legislation and attitudes towards British, non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australian children Rani Kerin Chapter 6 The health of Aboriginal Children in Western Australian 1829 - 1960 Christine Choo Part 3 Political and social disruptions to the pre-requisites of parenting Chapter 7 Disrupting demography: population collapse and rebound John Boulton Chapter 8 Coolibah's Story: Structural violence in the twentieth century John Boulton Chapter 9 The destruction of food resources at the colonial frontier John Boulton Part 4 Disorders of Child Growth and Development: a metric of structural violence Chapter 10 Growth faltering as a metric of social exclusion and poverty John Boulton Chapter 11 A model of children's growth and adaptation to nutritional stress Ze'ev Hochberg and John Boulton Part 5 Conclusion Chapter 12 Growing up our way: beyond social determinants in the aetiology of growth faltering John Boulton Chapter 13 Reflections John Boulton