The Build Up

About five years ago, a group of policy makers were talking about child health and development in New Zealand. The more they talked, the more they realised that there was no across-the-board information covering all aspects of a child growing up in 21st century New Zealand. And so, the idea for a new longitudinal study was born.

The result is Growing Up in New Zealand.

This research is unique in New Zealand as it is the first longitudinal study to start collecting information about children before their birth, and also the first to interview the child's father (or mother's partner) as well as the mother. It also has proportionate representation of European, Māori, Pasifika, Asian and other ethnic groups to reflect the wide cultural diversity of New Zealand's children and their families.

Every year, the child's parents (mother, father or mother's partner) are interviewed to get a better understanding of the range of influences on their child, which over time, have an impact on them. When the child is old enough, they will be interviewed too.

The research asks questions about health and wellbeing, family/whānau, education, psychological and cognitive development, the neighbourhood and environment and culture and identity so that holistic information about children in the context of their families and community can be gathered.

The Growing Up in New Zealand team is very fortunate to be able to build on the internationally respected Christchurch and Dunedin longitudinal studies begun in the 1970s. Their groundbreaking work is an invaluable legacy to this project, as it provides the Growing Up in New Zealand team with the opportunity to compare child development between the two generations.