Young Asians often anxious and bullied

Nearly a third of secondary school children of Asian ethnicity feel unsafe in schools, and a quarter suffer some form of bullying, a new report into young Asian New Zealanders finds.

The most comprehensive survey of the health of young Asian New Zealanders to date also finds a significant number suffering from anxiety and the symptoms of depression.

The poll of 922 students, taken as part of the Youth 2000 national survey, also found that newer arrivals were less likely to indulge in risky behaviour such as binge drinking.

Students with limited English and fee-paying students who were non-New Zealand residents were excluded from the study, which was conducted by the Auckland Regional Public Health Service and Auckland University. Only a minority of those surveyed were recent migrants.

The report's lead author, Dr Kumanan Rasanathan, said that overall, young Asian New Zealanders were healthy, but there were some areas of concern, such as mental health and bullying. Poor access to healthcare, particularly among young Chinese, was also worrying.

Dr Rasanathan said more research was needed to find out why the students felt unsafe in schools.

"I can speculate, but it would just be speculation.

"But we know from some of the overseas literature that children from ethnic minorities often do face more racism, discrimination and often do have problems with acceptance at school.

"It's possible that some of those things contribute. What they also face is often a cultural gap between the expectations of their family environment, and the expectations of their peers."

The study also broke down the responses into two additional categories, Indian and Chinese students - the two largest groups of Asian New Zealanders.

"This study confirms that you can't talk about young Asian New Zealanders as a single group," said Dr Rasanathan.

"They differ in lots of ways, including ethnicity, duration of residence in New Zealand, socio-economic status and English language ability. These differences are reflected in differences in their health."

Culture could explain the differences in the occurrence of risky behaviour among newer migrants and their long-settled, or New Zealand-born, counterparts.

"Young Asian New Zealanders are more likely to risk their health in these ways, the longer they have been in New Zealand."

He hoped the report would help put the health of young Asian New Zealanders on the policy agenda.

"Most young Asian New Zealanders aren't recent migrants, yet their concerns have been ignored to a large extent by mainstream providers. It's really important that the issues raised by this study are addressed.

"For example, there's real potential with new technologies such as mobile phones and websites to improve access to healthcare and information."

*Key findings

Chinese students felt more unsafe at school and were less likely to see a doctor. Depression rates were high, with 30 per cent of girls saying they'd had suicidal thoughts.

Asian students here five years or less report lower levels of risky behaviours than New Zealand-born Asian students.