About the project

Childhood food allergy is a growing issue in New Zealand and internationally. Our aim is to investigate childhood food allergy in New Zealand and to increase our understanding of why food allergy prevalence varies with ethnic groups, and whether it varies with parental country of birth.

We plan to investigate which factors in the first 1000 days of life are associated with food allergy at age 8 years, and whether these factors vary between ethnic groups and between children whose parents were versus were not born in New Zealand.

We will use data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study and structure it around the Fonofale model, a holistic framework that considers broader health determinants and aligns with the ethnic groups for whom food allergy is more prevalent.

New Zealand data around food allergy is limited, and this project will provide a contemporary analysis to improve our understanding of food allergy epidemiology and early determinants for New Zealand children, which can inform appropriate and equitable interventions to stem the tide of this growing public health concern.

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Start date: 1/07/2023