Growing Up in New Zealand

The Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study (GUiNZ) is New Zealand's largest ongoing cohort study. It recruited and follows 6,846 New Zealand children born between 2009 and 2010Morton, S. M., Ramke, J., Kinloch, J., Grant, C. C., Carr, P. A., Leeson, H., ... & Robinson, E. (2015). Growing Up in New Zealand cohort alignment with all New Zealand births. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 39(1), 82-87.—approximately 11 per cent of all children born in the country in that period. The project aims to create an in-depth summary of what life is like for children in New Zealand, and what factors affect their happiness, health, and development. The study also seeks to represent the diversity of modern-day New Zealand families,Morton, S.M.B., Walker, C.G., Gerritsen, S., Smith, A., Cha, J., Atatoa Carr, P., Chen, R., Exeter, D.J., Fa’alili-Fidow, J., Fenaughty, J., Grant, C. Kim, H., Kingi, T., Lai, H., Langridge, F., Marks, E.J., Meissel, K., Napier, C., Paine, S., Peterson, E.R., Pilai, A., Reese, E., Underwood, L., Waldie, K.E, Wall, C. Growing Up in New Zealand: A longitudinal study of New Zealand children and their families. Now We Are Eight. Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand. filling in current knowledge gaps on the health and wellbeing of Māori, Pasifika, and other communities. The study is run from the University of Auckland and is funded primarily by the New Zealand Government.

History

The study was specifically designed to provide population-relevant and modern data on New Zealand's children in the nation, which ranked 29th out of 30 OECD countries for child health as of 2009.Susan M B Morton, Polly E Atatoa Carr, Cameron C Grant, Elizabeth M Robinson, Dinusha K Bandara, Amy Bird, Vivienne C Ivory, Te Kani R Kingi, Renee Liang, Emma J Marks, Lana M Perese, Elizabeth R Peterson, Jan E Pryor, Elaine Reese, Johanna M Schmidt, Karen E Waldie, Clare Wall, Cohort Profile: Growing Up in New Zealand, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 42, Issue 1, February 2013, Pages 65–75, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyr206 The study was launched in 2008, directed by Dr Susan Morton. Recruitment of more than 6000 pregnant women from the Auckland and Waikato regions began in 2009.

In April 2024, RNZ reported that the Ministry of Social Development had not renewed the contract for Growing Up in New Zealand in February 2024 despite the Sixth Labour Government's 2023 budget including NZ$30 million over the next four years to fund the study. In response to media attention, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston and the University of Auckland said they were exploring functions to continue funding the Growing Up in NZ Study. In mid-September 2024, Upston confirmed that the Sixth National Government would be investing NZ$16.8 million into the longitudinal study over the next four years.

Outcomes The study has revealed important information on many issues facing New Zealand children. This includes issues such as poverty, obesity,Berry, S. D., Walker, C. G., Ly, K., Snell, R. G., Carr, P. A., Bandara, D., ... & Grant, C. C. (2018). Widespread prevalence of a CREBRF variant amongst Māori and Pacific children is associated with weight and height in early childhood. International Journal of Obesity, 42(4), 603-607. diet,Lawrence, R. L., Wall, C. R., & Bloomfield, F. H. (2020). Dietary patterns and dietary adaptations in women with and without gestational diabetes: Evidence from the Growing up in New Zealand Study. Nutrients, 12(1), 227. ethnic differences in healthcare access,Clark, T., Dasgupta, K., Lewycka, S., Pacheco, G. & Plum, A. (2020) Ethnic differences in the use and experience of child healthcare services in NZ: An empirical examination. Auckland. https://workresearch.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/483319/report-final-final-2Dec2020.pdf and antenatal and postpartum depression of parents.Waldie, K. E., Peterson, E. R., D'Souza, S., Underwood, L., Pryor, J. E., Carr, P. A., ... & Morton, S. M. (2015). Depression symptoms during pregnancy: evidence from growing up in New Zealand. Journal of affective disorders, 186, 66-73.

GUiNZ has led to key policy changes in areas such as immunisation,Nowlan, M., Willing, E., & Turner, N. (2019). Influences and policies that affect immunisation coverage-a summary review of literature. the Māori language,Bird, A. L., Carr, P. E. A., Reese, E., & Morton, S. M. (2016). Policy translation for early childhood education and care: the Growing Up in New Zealand approach. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 10(1), 1-18. parental leave, nutrition,Growing Up in New Zealand (2014). Growing Up in New Zealand Policy Brief. Nutrition and physical activity during pregnancy: evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand. Auckland: Growing Up in New Zealand. and household safety,Berry, S., Carr, P. A., Kool, B., Mohal, J., Morton, S., & Grant, C. (2017). Housing tenure as a focus for reducing inequalities in the home safety environment: evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 41(5), 530-534. improving the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders. In 2019, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment awarded the study an Endeavour Fund grant. The project "Our generation, our voices, all our futures" was established to create new technological connections with the cohort and engage the broader public with the study.

Growing Up in New Zealand

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