These researchers searched all articles published in the Australian Paediatric Journal (1965–1989) and Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (1990–2014) and identified 244 that were directly relevant to Indigenous child health (4% of the total) with a steady increase in number since 1995. Publications in the journal are largely descriptive studies with relatively few systematic reviews and randomised trials. This review attempts to cover the important Indigenous health issues in Australia and New Zealand as represented by the published articles. The earliest studies documented the poor state of health of Indigenous children in Northern Australia, particularly in terms of growth delays, high burden of infectious diseases and high prevalence of rheumatic heart disease. Studies in the 1990s documented high rates of environmental enteropathy, parasitic diarrhoea, failure-to-thrive, and chronic lung and ear infections. Most Australian publications in the journal (with a small Indigenous population) have focused on conditions and settings where nearly all (affected) children are Indigenous. In contrast, New Zealand publications (with a large Māori and Pacific Islander population) have addressed important health issues affecting all children but emphasised the over-representation of Māori and Pacific Islanders. The studies reflect improvements in Indigenous child health over the last 50 years. The current focus is on improving the social determinants of health, such as educational levels, housing and hygiene.
