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To enable improvements in global child health, the focus must move beyond child survival to child wellbeing. In the Pacific Islands, the wellbeing of children has received little attention. This study aimed to investigate the wellbeing of children from three primary schools in Tonga.

A cross‐sectional survey was completed in three primary schools in Nuku'alofa with children aged 5–15 years. The study participants (256 children, 143 caregivers) completed the Child Health and Illness Profile – Child Edition, CHIP‐CE (Version 1.0).

On average, >70% of children and caregivers described home and school environments as positive. From the children's reports, boys had significantly lower scores for risk avoidance than girls (3.40 vs. 3.73, P < 0.001). Children aged 5–7 versus 8–15 years had significantly lower scores for satisfaction (3.63 vs. 3.92, P = 0.002), resilience (3.34 vs. 3.56, P = 0.016 …