Social determinants of health and wellbeing

Despite universal access to health care and education, Australia is currently ranked in the bottom third of all OECD countries on a range of health and wellbeing indicators for children (Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, 2013). Such differences in health and wellbeing outcomes are now recognised as a 'wicked problem' (Moore, 2011) because they are extremely complex and very difficult to address (https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_wicked_problems.php). The United Nations has recognised this and created a special unit whose role it is to take the lead in addressing the factors contributing to this wicked problem (http://www. who.int/social_determinants/en/). This chapter examines this 'wicked problem', with the aim of supporting early childhood educators to reflect on the role they can play in addressing these issues. The chapter begins by looking at social inequality, particularly in relation to health and well-being. Despite huge improvements in the resources we have available to us think for a moment about the early childhood experiences of your grandparents/parents, who were growing up before antibiotics were available internationally we see significant declines in population health and well-being, and increasingly large gaps between the rich and the poor in countries all around the world.