Mental health issues soar among children

Hundreds of children aged 10 to 14 are being hospitalised after harming themselves, and the rate has grown by 35 per cent in just under a decade. New figures suggest a growing prevalence of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues among young people - and at an earlier age. An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report says the rate of children aged 10 to 14 hospitalised for intentional self-harm rose from 30 per 100,000 in 1998-99 to 41 per 100,000 in 2006-07. .