Growing Up in New Zealand Director, Associate Professor Susan Morton was a keynote speaker at the Mana Rangahau Faculty of Education and Social Sciences Applied Research Conference 2016 at Manukau Institute of Technology and Otara Marae on 25 November. The theme for the conference was “Empowering community through education” and presentations explored this from a wide range of perspectives.

In her presentation, Dr Morton introduced the contemporary cohort study of close to 7,000 children and their families who are participating in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal multidisciplinary study of child development. She explained that the information collected is explicitly designed to understand what shapes wellbeing in 21st century New Zealand. It provides a rich resource for researchers and policymakers to create population relevant strategies to improve wellbeing and reduce inequalities in outcomes for all children growing up in New Zealand today.

Dr Morton drew attention to the importance of the formative, first 1,000 days of a child’s life in setting the trajectory of development throughout childhood and beyond. She presented some of the wealth of data collected in the study over this time period with a focus on the factors which define vulnerability and resilience amongst cohort children and their families.