About the project

This research project investigates how food hardship experienced within a child’s first 1,000 days of life (from conception till age two) contributes to the development of ethnic inequities in childhood obesity in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project will use a Kaupapa Māori epidemiological approach and specifically explores how early food hardship disproportionately impacts Māori tamariki and contributes to obesity outcomes later in childhood.

Using longitudinal data from over 6,000 children and their families participating in the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) study, the research will analyse questionnaire responses and health measurements collected across multiple time periods. The key indicators of food hardship include caregiver use of food grants or banks, going without fresh fruit and vegetables to pay for other necessities, and being forced to buy cheaper food due to financial strain. These will be assessed in relation to the child’s body mass index (that has been adjusted for the child’s age and sex) measured at ages 2, 4.5, and 8 years.

The study will involve statistical analysis to understand how food hardship is associated with BMI outcomes across Māori, Pacific, Asian, “Other” and European children, taking into account differences in household income, education, and other confounding factors.

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Project start date: 21/07/2025

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