Introducing the new generation of kiwi kids
The early years of the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort
Associate Professor Susan Morton
Director
Centre for Longitudinal Research and
Growing Up in New Zealand
October 2016
www.growingup.co.nz
Overview of talk
Brief overview of the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study
Focus on key findings from the preschool years
Snapshot of fathers (co-parents) of the cohort children
Next steps and looking ahead
Overarching Aim of Growing Up in New Zealand
To provide contemporary population relevant
evidence about the determinants of developmental
trajectories for 21st century New Zealand children
in the context of their families.
The Ministry of Social Development and the Health
Research Council of New Zealand, in association
with the Families Commission, the Ministries of
Health and Education and the Treasury, wish to
establish a new longitudinal study of New Zealand
children and families, . to gain a better
understanding of the causal pathways that lead to
particular child outcomes (across the life course)
introduction to RFP in 2004.
Why a contemporary longitudinal study?
The Growing Up in New Zealand cohort
Recruited 6853 children before their birth -
via pregnant mothers (6823)
Partners recruited and interviewed
independently from pregnancy (4401)
Cohort has adequate explanatory power to
consider trajectories for Maori (1in 4),
Pacific (1 in 5) and Asian (1 in 6) children,
and to consider multiple ethnic identities
(approx. 40%)
Cohort broadly generalisable to current NZ
births (diversity of ethnicity and family SES)
Retention rates to 4.5 year DCW have been very
high (over 90% with minimal attrition bias)
Longitudinal Information available to date
Child age Ante-
natal
Peri-
natal
6 wk 35
wk
9
mth
12
mth
16
mth
23
mth
2
yr
31
mth
45
mth
54
mth
Mother
CAPI*
Father CAPI*
Mother
CATI
Child
Data
linkage**
* CAPI computer assisted personal interview
CATI computer assisted telephone interview
Child measurement
** Linkage to health and education records (eg National Minimum Dataset, National
Immunisation Register, ECE participation)
Moving beyond risk factorology
Seeking answers to why?
Mind the gap
Capturing the first 1000 days from pregnancy
Partnerships to facilitate translation
Study design
Data collection
Data analyses
Dissemination of results
Policy interaction
Policy interaction
Policy interaction
Policy interaction
First 1000 Day Reports for Policy Stakeholders
Bridge the gap?
The children at 2 years
Snapshot and longitudinal information
Now we are Two
Health and wellbeing (in first 1000 days)
Family and Household structure
Home environment
Screen time at 9 months
64
9 10 11 6
50
9 11
19
11 7 3 14
28
48
Seld
om
or
nev
er
On
ce a
wee
k
Seve
ral t
imes
a w
eek
On
ce a
day
Seve
ral t
imes
a d
ay
Seld
om
or
nev
er
On
ce a
wee
k
Seve
ral t
imes
a w
eek
On
ce a
day
Seve
ral t
imes
a d
ay
Seld
om
or
nev
er
On
ce a
wee
k
Seve
ral t
imes
a w
eek
On
ce a
day
Seve
ral t
imes
a d
ay
At nine months - baby watches videos or DVDs
At nine months - Baby watches children's TV programmes
At nine months - TV on in the same room as baby
Screen time at 9 months and SDQ at 2 years
Univariate odds of abnormal SDQ at 2 years (compared to normal SDQ)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
Seld
om
or
never
(ref)
Once a
week
Severa
l tim
es a
week
Once a
day
Severa
l tim
es a
da
y
Seld
om
or
never
(ref)
Once a
week
Severa
l tim
es a
week
Once a
day
Severa
l tim
es a
da
y
Seld
om
or
never
(ref)
Once a
week
Severa
l tim
es a
week
Once a
day
Se
ve
ral tim
es a
da
y
At nine months - baby watches videos or DVDs (p
Screen time rules at 2 years
75
18
7
58
35
7
61
32
7
Yes No n.a Yes No n.a Yes No n.a
At 2 years - there are rules about what TV programmes child can
watch
At 2 years - there are rules about how many hours of TV, videos,
and DVDs child can watch
At 2 years - there are rules about when your
child watches TV
Screen time rules at 2 years and SDQ at 2 years
Univariate odds of abnormal SDQ at 2 years (compared to normal SDQ)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0 Ye
s (r
ef)
No
Yes
(ref
)
No
Yes
(ref
)
No
At 2 years - there are rules about what TV programmes child can watch
(p
Place of birth of cohort parents
1 in 3 of all cohort children have at least one parent born outside NZ
Languages understood by children at 2 years
Policy Briefs & Fast-track requests
Policy Brief #5 - Why focus on Te Reo Mori?
Te Reo Mori was a flourishing and living language in the early post-colonization period in NZ, but it rapidly declined thereafter
Retention of Te Reo Mori is important for Aoteoroa/ NZ society:
to strengthen Mori culture and identity
as an integral component of Mori succeeding as Mori
as part of the nations identity (Mori language week this week)
Revitalisation of Te Reo is a national priority (2014 National Strategy released by Te Puni Kokiri)
Growing Up in NZ cohort is ideal to explore acquisition and use of Te Reo in the new generation of NZ children, and to
Intergenerational Te Reo Mori use
Intergenerational Te Reo Mori (Mori and non-Mori)
Mori identity and
understanding te reo Mori at two years of age
Neither Mori nor
understand te reo Mori
Identified as Mori but
do not understand te reo Mori
Identified as Mori and
understand te reo Mori
Understand te reo Mori
but not identified as Mori
NB: By 2 years 40% of children identified as Mori (by a parent) are reported to be able to speak te reo Mori well or very well
Te reo utilisation at 2 and Next steps
We are seeing an increasing utilization of Te Reo Mori in this new generation of NZ children
The children who identify as Maori are most likely to be using te reo in everyday activities
The future of te reo relies on the home environment as well as its use and fostering in other settings (e.g. education)
The Growing Up in New Zealand cohort provides an excellent opportunity to follow the transmission and retention of te Reo in the contemporary NZ context
Proficiency in te reo Mori was assessed at 54 months and will be formally measured at 8 years for the
The children at 4 years of age
Retention
Parental antenatalinterview
6 weeks
9 month interview
2 year interview
45 month ca ll
54 month interview
Pregnant mothers N = 6822 *
Partners N = 4401
Chi ld counts (N = 6853)
Completed = 6843 Skipped = 10
Chi ld counts (N = 6795)
Completed = 6476 (94%) Skipped = 310
Lost to follow up = 9
Opt out =54Deceased =4
Chi ld counts (N = 6706) Completed = 6327 (92%)
Skipped = 366Lost to follow up = 13
Chi ld counts (N = 6670)
Completed = 6207 (91%) Skipped = 442
Lost to follow up = 21
Chi ld counts (N = 6639)
Completed = 6156 (90%)
Skipped = 462Lost to follow up = 21
Opt out = 88
Deceased = 1
Opt out = 36
Opt out = 29Deceased = 2
Child Ethnicity (Maternal report at 54 months)
All ethnicity Frequency Percent
European 4106 66.74
Maori 1522 24.74
Pacific 1241 20.17
Asian 939 15.26
MELAA 136 2.21
Others 395 6.42
New Zealander 976 15.86
NB: 48% of children identified as having 2 or more ethnic identities.
Languages children use by 4 years (top 10)
Frequency Language(s) spoken
ALL Hello?
6098 English Hello
596 Mori Kia ora
299 Samoan Talofa
227 Tongan Ml e lelei
211 Mandarin
192 Hindi 83 Spanish Hola
63 Cantonese
55 Punjabi 53 Cook Island Mori Kia orana
Health and Wellbeing - changes over time
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]% [VALUE]%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]% [VALUE]% 0.5%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]%
[VALUE]% 2% [VALUE]%
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
9 month
2 year
4 1/2 year
Focus on Childhood Obesity in NZ
1 in 3 NZ children are now classified as overweight or obese Risk is not equally distributed, nor differences fully understood.
Anthropometry BMI (WHO cut-offs)
0.1 0.1 0.2 1.3 0.3
88.9
81.6
69.9
90.7 85.9
8.2 12.4
18.7
5.0 9.4
2.8 6.0
11.2
3.0 4.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
European Maori Pacific Asian Overall
Percent (%)
Underweight Normal Overweight Obese
Activity information at 4 years
7.6
4.3
0.5
10.4
3.4
7.8
58.6
69.1
36.4
65.5
36.0
67.8
33.8
26.7
63.1
24.1
60.7
24.4
Climbs on trees, climbing frame, wall bars etc
Plays with a ball
Plays chasing or running games
Rides a bike, tricycle, skateboard or scooter
Dances around the house
Takes part in physical exercise or activities that you all do together as a family
Never or less than a week At least once a week Everyday
Household structure at 54 months
Household
structure
(54 months)
Parent alone
Two parents
only
Parent(s)
with extended
family
Parent(s)
with non-kin
Frequency 500
4384
1079 233
Percent 8.1 70.8 17.4 3.7
2 year family structure
Media exposure at 45 months and 54 months
[VALUE]
(Mean = 98 min)
(Median =
90 min)
[VALUE]
(Mean = 89 min)
(Median =
60 min)
[VALUE]
(Mean = 163 min)
(Median = 120 min)
[VALUE]
(Mean = 129 min)
(Median = 120 min)
[VALUE]
(Mean = 42 min)
(Median =
30 min)
[VALUE]
(Mean = 37 min)
(Median =
30 min)
At 45m At 54m At 45m At 54m At 45m At 54m
Child watching television programming, including free-to-air, online, and pay TV,
or DVDs either on TV or other media
Child with the TV on in the same room, whether or not child was watching it
Child uing electronic media e.g. computer or laptop,
including childrens computer systems such as Leapfrog, ipads, tablets,
smart phones
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Antenatal interview Nine month interview Two year interview Fifty-four month interview
$150,001
Household income - changes over first 5 years
Early life residential mobility
Overall, between birth and two years of age, 45.3% (n = 2796) of the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort had moved at least once
Characteristics associated with residential mobility
Mobility between birth and nine months: Multivariate model
0
1
2
3
4
5
Euro
pean
Mori
Pa
cific
Pe
op
les
Asia
n
Pa
ren
t a
lon
e
Tw
o p
are
nts
alo
ne
Pa
ren
t(s)
with
exte
nd
ed
fa
mily
Pa
ren
t(s)
with
no
n-k
in
Fa
mily
ow
ne
rsh
ip
Priva
te r
en
tal
Pu
blic
/Oth
er
ren
tal
Lo
w
Me
diu
m
Hig
h
Maternal ethnicity Household Structure Household tenure Crowding
0
1
2
3
4
5
No change Newly Partnered Newly partner-less
Same income group
Increase Decrease
Change in partner status Change in household income group
Value of the longitudinal data: change variables
Birth to nine months
Residential Mobility (between 2 and 4.5 years)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5
Perc
ent
(%)
Number of Moves
No of times Frequency Percent
0 3046 49.5
1 1757 28.6
2 791 12.9
3 355 5.8
4 or more 197 3.2
Household tenure changing over time?
Tenure type Antenatal 9 months 2 years 54 months
Family Home 55.2 56.2 56.2 57.8
Private rental 38.3 37.8 38.1 35.8
Public rental 6.5 6.0 5.7 6.4
Partners/dads of children after 2 year DCW
Child age Ante-
natal
Peri-
natal
6 wk 35
wk
9
mth
12
mth
16
mth
23
mth
2
yr
31
mth
45
mth
54
mth
Mother
CAPI*
Father CAPI*
Mother
CATI
Child
Data
linkage**
* CAPI computer assisted personal interview
CATI computer assisted telephone interview
Child measurement
** Linkage to health and education records (eg National Minimum Dataset, National
Immunisation Register, ECE participation)
Add on study to follow dads when children started school
called Who are todays dads?
Key aims
- To explore the diversity of individuals who are father
figures to six-year old children growing up in New
Zealand today
- To determine how policy can support the role that modern
fathers can contribute to their childrens early
development
Focus on work, family, parenting and father involvement
Online data collection (August 2015 - March 2016)
4121 participants
Focus on the dads
Who are the dads?
97% report being the biological father
93% Lives with the child all the time
The Dads/Fathers/Co-parents
[CATEGORY NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]
[CATEGORY NAME]
[CATEGORY NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]
[CATEGORY NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]
[CATEGORY NAME]
[PERCENTAGE]
Education
Low 37%
Medium 38%
High 25%
Area level deprivation (NZdep2013)
0
10
20
30
40
5
5
%
Age
Socio-demographics
2
8 12 12 14
70
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
MELAA & other
New Zealander
Asian
Pacific
Maori
European
%
Ethnicity (all, not prioritised)
Migrant parents diverse backgrounds
Involvement with children at 6
Parenting confidence and involvement
Fathers work 94%
are in paid employment
6% have more than one paid job
47 work hours per week on average
32% work on weekends
47% are able to
work flexible hours
Work satisfaction
Work-life balance
Poorer work-life balance was associated with
- More work hours per week
- Less involvement with child
- Lower levels of being a confident parent
- Wanting more involvement in the childs live
Fathers not in paid employment
Fathers who dont live with their children
1 in 3 live less than 5 km from their child 1 in 4 live between 5 and 19 km from their child
14% live over 100 km from their child 5% live in a different country then their child 20% say child is always or often sad when leaving them 73% say child is relaxed and comfortable at start contact time
7% of participants do not live with the child all the
time
Of these:
64% said reaching a contact arrangement was difficult
24% had a formal (court ordered/legal) contact
arrangement
Fathers health and wellbeing
88% say their health is good to excellent
4.4% have a disability, of which 53% say their disability has
a somewhat negative or very negative effect on their
parenting
16% report symptoms of psychological distress
71% eat at least one serve of fruit or vegetables per day
12% smoke daily; on average 10 cigarettes per day
More to come on the dads.
More to come on the children and mothers
72 month electronic DCW completed school transition focus
Data linkage to routine health and education records continues
8 year DCW planned to go to field (Leading Light 2016)
UoA Centre for Longitudinal Research eResearch platform,
research collaborations, PhD opportunities, bespoke reports
(www.growingup.co.nz)
Acknowledgements
Participants and their families
Growing Up team
University of Auckland/UniServices
C4LongR Advisory Board
Superu and Families Commission
Ministry of Social Development
Multiple other government agencies
Collaborative partners
Policy Forum members
Advisory and Stakeholder groups
(DAC, ESAG, PF)
GUiNZ Executive Board
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