Updates
The latest from A Better StartA Better Start research identifies unmet mental health support for pregnant New Zealand women
The first-ever study to look at anti-depressant use and symptoms of depression in pregnant New Zealand women has identified unmet need for antenatal mental health support. The research examined anti-depressant use and symptoms of depression in more than 6000...
Farewell Matua Rāwiri Wharemate
Tributes are flowing from family, friends and colleagues of Matua Rāwiri Wharemate, who passed away on Saturday surrounded by his family. Rāwiri (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Tainui, Ngāti Pūkenga) is well known for his extensive experience in the child and youth mental...
Queen’s honour for A Better Start professor
A Better Start National Science Challenge Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane has received one of the Queen’s highest honours. Professor Macfarlane is a leader with A Better Start’s Successful Learning team, and is the Challenge's Kaihautu Māori. He has been made a...
Read our May newsletter
Our latest newsletter is out. Read it HERE Find out all about our Child Wellbeing Workshop, our upcoming webinar on child nutrition, a new sleep toolkit for Māori and Pasifika babies, latest research news, recent publications and so much more. Subscribe to A Better...
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Hot topics in child nutrition
A Better Start National Science Challenge, along with The Paediatric Society of New Zealand and Cure Kids, invite you to a free webinar to discover the latest in child nutrition. REGISTER NOW Tots to Teens: Hot Topics in Child Nutrition Wednesday June 16 at 12.30pm...
How do we improve child wellbeing in NZ?
What is child wellbeing, how do we measure it, and how can we improve it in New Zealand? Those were the key questions posed at the E Tipu e Rea Child Wellbeing Workshop, hosted by A Better Start in Wellington earlier this month. The Challenge’s Science Leadership...
Effective teaching practices for early literacy success
Congratulations to A Better Start's Successful Learning theme leader, Professor Brigid McNeill, who gave her professorial lecture at the University of Canterbury last month. Titled The pathway to impact: Effective teaching practices for early literacy success, the...
“An important signpost for our community”
Congratulations to A Better Start board member Sharon Shea, who has been appointed as the first-ever permanent Māori Chair of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board. “I feel honoured to bring a tangata whenua perspective to the board’s leadership and to support...
Media coverage in February/March 2021
A Better Start researchers provide expert commentary on the Challenge's research projects and priority research themes, as well as child wellbeing issues affecting New Zealanders. Here are some recent highlights. For more news about A Better Start, visit our News...
New initiative for Māori researchers
Ten Māori researchers with A Better Start National Science Challenge have come together for a "Zui" (Zoom hui). The new initiative allows for greater knowledge-sharing and collaboration among our Māori researchers, who are working across a range of child wellbeing...
WATCH: Better Start to Literacy Approach webinar
Lead researchers of A Better Start National Science Challenge's Successful Learning theme present latest findings and project details of their Better Start to Literacy Approach, which involves over 1500 tamariki (aged 3- 6 years) and their whānau. The approach is...
Read our latest newsletter
Our latest newsletter is out. Read it HERE Find out all about why Hawke's Bay children's habits are under the spotlight, the sleep treatment used by 1 in 4 Kiwi children with autism, moves to prevent later childhood obesity, research news, recent publications and...
