Over $1 million granted for research about children

Over $1 million has been granted to a mix of academic, public and private researchers from the Superu Children and Families Research Fund.

Vasantha Krishnan, Superu’s acting Deputy Chief Executive, says that the Fund is dedicated to exploring issues using anonymised data from the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal study.

"We recognise that researchers need to connect with GUiNZ data to help tackle key challenges that New Zealand children and their families face today, so we’re helping to make sure this happens," says Ms Krishnan.

Some of the research being funded includes:

-Investigating the effects of screen time on preschool health and development: How much screen time is too much? Led by Associate Professor Scott Duncan, Auckland University of Technology.

-Protective factors of children and families at highest risk of adverse childhood experiences: An analysis of children and families in the GUiNZ data who ‘beat the odds’. Led by Professor Rhema Vaithianathan, co-director of the Centre for Social Data Analytics at Auckland University of Technology.

-Predictive modelling of respiratory hospitalisations in early childhood. Led by Chris Schilling, KPMG.

-Are New Zealand children meeting the Ministry of Health guidelines for sleep? Led by Associate Professor Leigh Signal, Massey University.

-Intentions and outcomes in early childhood choices: Understanding the determinants and dynamics of households' early intentions and decisions about childcare from birth to age two. Led by Dr Kane Meissel from the Faculty of Education and Social Work and Centre for Longitudinal Research at the University of Auckland.

-Infant feeding in New Zealand: Adherence to the national food and nutrition guidelines. Led by Dr Teresa Gontijo de Castro, also from the Centre for Longitudinal Research.

-Analysis of early childhood development outcomes and the association of alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Led by Dr Gail Kelly from NZIER.

The Fund was open to applications from government agencies, academics, public or independent research organisations, and non-government organisations.

GUiNZ data used in this research has been anonymised so that individual study participants cannot be identified.

The evidence produced will be released publicly so that it can be used by people across the social sector to make better decisions and improve the lives of New Zealand children.

GUiNZ is a longitudinal study led by the University of Auckland which aims to inform policy development in New Zealand, and address scientific, policy and practice questions that are relevant at a national and international level.

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