Health is a relative and absolute concept so drawing comparisons between nations is not straightforward. Nonetheless, specific metrics can be applied to draw a level of comparison – in this case for children.
One company seeking such an endeavour is Compare the Market (Australia), who have sought to analyse 48 countries based on 10 different metrics. This was with the lofty aim to find the healthiest nations to raise children in.
For policy makers, such international comparisons of child health can lead to an understanding where the health and wider outcomes of children and families are similar to those in other countries. Where outcomes are better or improving, it is possible to consider how this might be sustained. Where outcomes are worse, this presents the opportunity to prioritise activity at a local and national level to achieve improvement.
The outcome is that Iceland is ranked as the best location for raising children with a ‘healthy childhood’. The measures included for Iceland are a very high child vaccination rate at 96%, a long life expectancy of 82.4 years, access to safe drinking water, the second-highest spending on education as a percentage of GDP at 7.1%, and the cleanest air of all 48 nations.
Australia was ranked second, performing well in many of the same areas as Iceland. Australia also had the highest number of parks per million of all 48 nations analysed at 145.99 per capita.
Japan came third in the index, thanks to having some of the lowest rates of obesity and overweight children, and the second-highest life expectancy at 84.1 years. Japan was held back by higher levels of air pollution and lower education spending in comparison to other high-performing countries.
Of the top 10 highest-scoring nations in the index, Australia and Japan were the only non-European nations. The U.S. ended up way down the list.
Data outcome
| Country | Hospitals per million | Parks per million | Child vax rate | Life expectancy | Safe drinking water access | Education spending % of GDP | Overweight & obesity rates 5-9yrs | Overweight & obesity rates 10-19yrs | Insufficiently active children rates | Air pollution levels | Index score |
| Iceland | 20.74 | 37.07 | 96.0 | 82.4 | 100.00 | 7.1 | 33% | 33% | 80% | 4.0 | 6.36 |
| Australia | 48.78 | 145.99 | 93.1 | 83.0 | 99.53 | 5.2 | 54% | 51% | 89% | 4.5 | 6.33 |
| Japan | 65.31 | 50.256 | 96.5 | 84.1 | 98.66 | 3.2 | 23% | 19% | 80%* | 8.6 | 6.32 |
| France | 43.37 | 25.10 | 94.7 | 83.0 | 99.70 | 5.4 | 23% | 20% | 87% | 8.1 | 6.22 |
| Sweden | 4.07 | 28.57 | 94.0 | 83.4 | 99.74 | 7.6 | 42% | 34% | 84% | 5.3 | 6.11 |
| Belgium | 13.79 | 31.40 | 92.0 | 82.5 | 99.74 | 6.4 | 28% | 29% | 83% | 8.9 | 6.03 |
| Denmark | 9.84 | 30.68 | 94.7 | 81.8 | 99.92 | 5.3 | 26% | 23% | 85% | 7.2 | 5.98 |
| Netherlands | 41.67 | 35.58 | 86.8 | 81.9 | 99.97 | 5.1 | 25% | 21% | 80% | 8.9 | 5.97 |
| Luxembourg | 15.01 | 23.61 | 96.3 | 83.4 | 99.53 | 4.7 | 33% | 28% | 79% | 7.5 | 5.92 |
| Finland/ Portugal | 35.10 | 30.87 | 91.0 | 81.6 | 99.64 | 6.5 | 42% | 44% | 75% | 5.2 | 5.89 |
| 22.88 | 32.71 | 97.6 | 82.5 | 95.16 | 4.8 | 39% | 26% | 84% | 6.8 |
Other major economies did not perform so well. The U.K., after 14 years of Conservative rule, was ranked 19th, with a low number of hospitals per capita (16.47), and generally poor scores across most metrics (apart from safe drinking water access).
Even worse is U.S., which ranked 31st out of 48 countries. The US was held back by a lower life expectancy of 78.4 years, and higher numbers of children overweight or obese (58% for five to nine years and 65% for 10-19 years), despite some good scores in other metrics.
The wealthiest nations all do well in several areas like safe drinking water, child vaccination rates, air pollution levels and lower rates of obesity in children. However, one standout point is that the majority of children are not meeting the recommended weekly physical activity levels.
