Change in the food environment and measured adiposity in adulthood in the Christchurch Health and development birth cohort, Aotearoa, New Zealand: A birth cohort study.

This study investigated associations between change in the food environment and change in measured body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) birth cohort. Our findings suggest that cohort members who experienced the greatest proportional change towards better access to fast food outlets had the slightly larger increases in BMI and WC. Contrastingly, cohort members who experienced the greatest proportional change towards shorter distance and better access to supermarkets had slightly smaller increases in BMI and WC.

Mental health inequities for Māori youth: a population-level study of mental health service data.

Aim: To examine specialist mental health service, hospital discharge, and pharmaceutical dispensing data for emotional conditions (anxiety, depression), substance use, and self-harm for Māori compared to non-Māori/non-Pasifika (NMNP) youth.

Methods: A novel population-level case identification method using New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure for 232,845 Māori and 627,891 NMNP aged 10-24 years. Descriptive statistics on mental health conditions were generated and stratified by Māori/NMNP.

The good, the bad, and the environment: developing an area-based measure of access to health-promoting and health-constraining environments in New Zealand.

Background: Accounting for the co-occurrence of multiple environmental influences is a more accurate reflection of population exposure than considering isolated influences, aiding in understanding the complex interactions between environments, behaviour and health. This study examines how environmental 'goods' such as green spaces and environmental 'bads' such as alcohol outlets co-occur to develop a nationwide area-level healthy location index (HLI) for New Zealand.

Methods: Nationwide data were collected, processed, and geocoded on a comprehensive range of environmental exposures.

Investigating the Association Between Child Television Viewing and Measured Child Adiposity Outcomes in a Large Nationally Representative Sample of New Zealanders: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: This study investigates the association between television (TV) viewing and child adiposity and if parental education and child ethnicity moderate this association.

Method: Cross-sectional, pooled (2013/2014-2016/2017) adult and child New Zealand Health Survey were matched resulting in 13,039 children (2-14 y) and parent dyads. Child TV viewing was estimated using self-reported time for each weekday and weekend.

National movement patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand: the unexplored role of neighbourhood deprivation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has asked unprecedented questions of governments around the world. Policy responses have disrupted usual patterns of movement in society, locally and globally, with resultant impacts on national economies and human well-being. These interventions have primarily centred on enforcing lockdowns and introducing social distancing recommendations, leading to questions of trust and competency around the role of institutions and the administrative apparatus of state.

Spatial-temporal patterns of childhood immunization in New Zealand (2006-2017): an improving pattern but not for all?

Background: Declining childhood immunization represents a serious public health problem globally and in New Zealand. To guide efforts to increase immunization coverage, this study monitors nationwide change in immunization coverage since the introduction of the National Immunisation Register (NIR) in 2005 and spatiotemporal patterns of immunization coverage from 2006 to 2017.

Methods: The study population consisted of 4 482 499 individual immunization records that were obtained from the NIR (2005-2017).

Investigating change in the food environment over 10 years in urban New Zealand: A longitudinal and nationwide geospatial study.

Background: While it is likely that changing food environments have contributed to the rise in obesity rates, very few studies have explored historical trends in the food environment with little, if any, consideration at a nationwide level. This longitudinal, nationwide, and geospatial study aims to examine change over time in proximity to food environments in all urban areas of New Zealand from 2005 to 2015.

Method: This study used high quality food outlet data by area-level deprivation within the three largest urban areas of Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

Investigating spatial variation and change (2006-2017) in childhood immunisation coverage in New Zealand.

Background: Immunisation is a safe and effective way of protecting children and adults against harmful diseases. However, immunisation coverage of children is declining in some parts of New Zealand.

Aim: Use a nationwide sample to first, examine the socioeconomic and demographic determinants of immunisation coverage and spatial variation in these determinants.

A geospatial analysis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and the food environment in urban New Zealand.

The aim of this research is to analyse the spatial epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and investigate associations with the built environment in urban New Zealand. Data on T2DM was sourced from the New Zealand Virtual Diabetes Register (2016), and data on environmental variables sourced from the Ministry for Primary Industries and Territorial Authorities (2013-2016). Novel measures of the built environment using an enhanced two-step floating catchment area model were established using data on fast food outlets, takeaways, dairy/convenience stores, supermarkets and fruit/vegetable stores.