Identification of positive childhood experiences with the potential to mitigate childhood unhealthy weight status in children within the context of adverse childhood experiences: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Despite potential protective and mitigating effects of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) on poor health outcomes, limited research has identified relevant PCEs and examined their individual and cumulative associations with weight status, or their mitigating effects on the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and obesity in children. This study aims to develop an exploratory PCEs Index with the potential to protect against or mitigate the association between ACEs and unhealthy weight status.

Methods: Data came from the Growing Up in New Zealand study.

Ethnic-specific characteristics associated with longitudinal response patterns from prebirth to 12 years: evidence from .

Background: Longitudinal studies can generate valuable scientific knowledge, but can be compromised by systematic attrition. Previous research shows that sociodemographic characteristics (eg, ethnicity, age, educational level, socioeconomic circumstances) are associated with attrition rates. However, little is known about whether these characteristics differ by ethnicity, and how this impacts cohort retention strategies.

Investigating the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure and children's behavioural and emotional development: analysis of the Growing Up in New Zealand study.

Aims: To examine the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and children's behavioural and emotional development in a large generalizable sample of women and their children in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: Using data from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort, we investigated the relationship between maternal PAE and behavioural and emotional development in 8-year-old children. We explored secondary outcomes including measures of language, executive function, academic achievement, and adaptive behaviour.

A study of Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island Māori, and Niuean infant care practices in the Growing Up in New Zealand study.

Background: Despite a low rate of infant mortality, Aotearoa New Zealand has a high rate of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infants (SUDI), with disproportionate impact for Pacific infants. This study explored the infant care practices, factors and relationships associated with increased risk of SUDI amongst Tongan, Samoan, Cook Islands Māori, and Niuean mothers in New Zealand, to inform evidence-based interventions for reducing the incidence of SUDI for Pacific families and their children.

Methods: Analysis comprised of data collected in 2009-2010 from 1089 Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori and Niuean mothers enrolled in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort study.

Is the Concept of Solastalgia Meaningful to Pacific Communities Experiencing Mental Health Distress Due to Climate Change? An Initial Exploration.

The critical inquiry is how Pacific communities themselves characterize mental distress as a result of climate change. If not solastalgia, what more suitable terms might they use? This viewpoint article aims to initiate a discourse using solastalgia as the focus for the Pacific by 1. providing a definition of solastalgia; 2.

Investigating the health status of primary school children in Tonga: Lessons learnt and reflections on field work in the Pacific Islands.

Globally, the child health focus has been on reducing under-5-year mortality, with large populations in low-resource regions prioritised. Children in older age groups, particularly in less populated regions such as the Pacific, have received limited attention. Child health research in the Pacific region has been lacking, and research approaches for the region have historically been from Western biomedical paradigms.

Strategies and tools to aid the transition between paediatric and adult health services for young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: The transition from paediatric to adult healthcare comes with risk and vulnerability for young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and their carers. Deficits in health, social and disability systems and the fragmentation of services exacerbate problems during the transition period, leaving young people and their carers feeling disconnected with existing services. With advances in healthcare, the number of young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders requiring transition services is increasing.

Pākehā/Palangi positionality: disentangling power and paralysis.

Significant health inequities in Aotearoa present compelling evidence that responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi have not been upheld. The aim of this paper is to present our experiences as Pākehā/Palangi working in Māori and Pasifika health in Aotearoa. We are interested in what prevents the upholding of responsibilities by tangata Tiriti and in how, as tangata Tiriti, we can do better.

Kaitiakitanga - principles for protecting and promoting tamariki and rangatahi wellbeing in Growing Up in New Zealand.

Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) is the largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the study was to recruit a large, socioeconomically and ethnically diverse cohort of children, with successful recruitment of 1246 pregnant Māori women. This paper describes the development and operationalisation of the GUiNZ Kaitiaki principles which provide a framework for ensuring that Māori rights and aspirations for research and policy development are upheld as part of the study.

'Seeing' our tamariki in longitudinal studies: exploring the complexity of ethnic identification trajectories within Growing Up in New Zealand.

Longitudinal research provides unique opportunities for ethnic identification research and for understanding ethnic identity development. However, ethnic identification is subjective, fluid, multi-dimensional, and context-specific. This study draws on longitudinal data to explore: how children identify their ethnicity/culture; and how these descriptions compare with ethnic identification patterns described by their parent.

Mind the gap - unequal from the start: evidence from the early years of the longitudinal study.

is this country's largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development. The study has been designed to provide insight into the lives of children and young people growing up in the context of twenty-first century New Zealand. The cohort recruited 6853 children representative of the current ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of births in Aotearoa, New Zealand in 2009 and 2010.

Surviving versus thriving: The wellbeing of primary school aged children in Tonga.

Aim: 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.

Evaluation of vision screening of 5-15-year-old children in three Tongan schools: comparison of The Auckland Optotypes and Lea symbols.

Background: Comprehensive vision screening programmes for children are an important part of public health strategy, but do not exist in many countries, including Tonga. This project set out to assess: (1) the functional vision of children attending primary schools in Tonga and (2) how a new recognition acuity test (The Auckland Optotypes displayed on a tablet computer) compares to use of a standardised eye chart in this setting.

Methods: Children from three Tongan primary schools were invited to participate.

Child morbidity as described by hospital admissions for primary school aged children in Tonga 2009-2013.

Aims: To describe inpatient utilisation patterns for primary school aged children in Tonga.

Methods: We described admissions for children aged 5-11 years to the main hospital in Tonga from January 2009 to December 2013. Rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were compared using rate ratios (RR).