Understanding Parental education and health of Pacific families: Background and study protocol

Nakiro'anga ite au meitaki o tei 'āpi'i ia no te ora'anga pu'apinga no tātou te Vakevake a Te Moana Nui o Kiva e no'o nei i Aotearoa (Meitaki o te ‘Api'i) is a programme of research examining the benefits of education to health outcomes for Pacific families in Aotearoa using the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI). It is an Health Research Council funded Pacific post-doctoral project. The present study represents part of Meitaki o te ‘Api'i that will investigate any associations between parental education and child health outcomes in Pacific families. Using linked health, income, and Census data, the study will model the influence of parental education levels on child health outcomes accounting for the influence of other key factors. The aim of this methodological paper, ist to give the background for this project, which is in a relatively new data space for Pacific research, and describe our participants. Most children in the study cohort were born in New Zealand and nearly all could speak English. Pacific children were slightly younger, more likely to be able to speak a Pacific or other languages, and most likely to live in areas of socio-ecenomic deprivation compared to non-Pacific children. Pacific children who identified with solely Pacific and Pacific with other ethnicities. Parents of children with solely Pacific ethnicity, more than a third of whom were born in New Zealand, over 60% spoke a Pacific language and four out of five held christian beliefs. By comparison, parents of children with Pacific with other ethnicities were; younger, New Zealand born, less likely to speak another language and half held christian beliefs. Compared with parents of children from Other ethnicities, parents of Pacific children had lower median incomes, were less likely to own their home and had fewer total years of education. This paper reports on some well known inequities that exist for Pacific children living in New Zeland. However, it is important to note that the overall purpose of this study is not to highlight the differences between Pacific and other non Pacific families, but to look at the relationship between parental education and the health of children.