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Objective: To examine infant feeding associations with parent-reported infections and hospitalisations in Western Australian Aboriginal infants and children., Method: Families in Western Australia with children under 18 years of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent were included. A stratified multi-stage sample using an area-based sampling frame was compiled. Survey weights produced unbiased estimates for the population of families with Aboriginal children. Data were collected on demographic variables, maternal and infant characteristics and parent-reported recurring chest, ear and gastrointestinal infections. The data were linked to the Hospital Morbidity System to identify hospitalisations for infections for the same children., Results: Twenty-seven per cent of Aboriginal children were breastfed for less than three months. Parent-reported recurring chest, ear and gastrointestinal infections were reported in 47% of the 0-3 age group. Hospitalisations due to upper respiratory and gastrointestinal infections were most common in the older children, but wheezing lower respiratory infections were most common in younger children. Breastfeeding for less than three months and birth weight less than 2,500 g were risk factors for parent-reported chest infections and hospitalisations for upper and wheezing lower respiratory infections (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Rates of parent-reported chest infections and hospitalisations due to these infections continue to be high in Aboriginal infants and children. Because breastfeeding for less than three months and low birth weight are risk factors for these infections, interventions to reduce the prevalence of low birth weight and to increase breastfeeding rates should be primary health goals in Aboriginal communities for the benefits of Aboriginal infants and children.

This study explored the racial identity of Indigenous children and youth who attended urban, state and private primary and secondary schools in the Noongar[i] region of urban Perth in Western Australia. Thirty five Australian Indigenous children aged 8-12 were interviewed and 120 youth aged 13-17 participated in focus groups. Transcripts were analysed and common themes were identified by extracting relevant responses and their meanings. The components of racial identity for children aged 7-12 and youth were very similar such that culture, family, language and appearance featured. The most reported element of racial identity for young children was culture which comprised of eight sub-elements. Young people however, reported that a strong sense of self was the most important contributor to their racial identity and it comprised of ten sub-elements. Indigenous youth perceived that their racial identity is exposed to others' attitudes, values and behaviours because according to them 'identity is about what you look like and how others see you'. [i] Noongar can be spelled in a number of ways and this paper has adopted the above spelling. Noongar is a collective term that denotes Aboriginal people of the south-west of Western Australia (Palmer & Collard 1993). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]