A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea
National Science ChallengeBetter science together for a better start in life
Our children are the future
Every child should have the best possible start in life. To achieve this A Better Start researchers are creating the tools and methods to predict, prevent and intervene early so children have a healthy weight, are successful learners and they can access the tools they need to look after their mental health.
A Better Start is the National Science Challenge working to help children, teenagers, their whanau and family achieve the best possible start in life. Our job is to find practical, evidence-based solutions that make a measurable difference for tamariki.
We can achieve this by working with communities, drawing together indigenous and Western approaches to knowledge and bringing together the best researchers from different disciplines here and overseas to take a holistic approach rather than addressing health, wellbeing and learning issues in isolation.
$1M RESEARCH FUNDING TO IMPROVE PASIFIKA CHILD HEALTH
Two-year project gets underway
A Better Start National Science Challenge is funding a major research project aimed at the prevention of obesity, prediabetes and poor dental health among Pacific children.
The two-year project has been granted $1M in funding and will be led by Associate Professor Tupa’ilevaililigi Riz Firestone, a senior researcher at the Research Centre for Hauora and Health at Massey University. Associate Professor Firestone has also been appointed as A Better Start’s new Pasifika Strategy theme leader.
From the Director
A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea has more than 160 researchers delivering excellent science to give our tamariki a better start in life. They come from many different disciplines and organisations, but are united in their commitment. Our researchers share a collaborative approach and through the He Awa Whiria (braided rivers) model weave together knowledge from differing sources that flow together to progress the wellbeing of tamariki.
Ngā mihi,
Professor Wayne Cutfield
Challenge Director
About
The Science
Collaborative research and science excellence
News
Updates & events from A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea
News and events
Don’t put down your phone – innovative digital technology targets teen mental health
Teenagers spend plenty of time on their phones – and now that technology is playing a major part in helping them to deal with rising mental health issues. Researchers for A Better Start National Science Challenge have developed innovative new digital tools to address...
Knighthood for A Better Start board member
Congratulations to A Better Start National Science Challenge board member Dr Collin Tukuitonga, who has been knighted in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday honours. Sir Collin is one of three new knights “who reflect the very best of New Zealand,” says Prime Minister Jacinda...
Wearable technology to help adolescents with stress and anxiety
A pilot study of wearable technology to help young people sense and manage their anxiety is under way in New Zealand. The two-year project, which has been granted $400,000 in joint funding by A Better Start National Science Challenge and Cure Kids, will investigate...
Autistic students in NZ three times more likely to be stood down or suspended: new research
This story appeared in The New Zealand Herald. Click here to read the full story on nzherald.co.nz Autistic children in New Zealand are almost three times more likely to be stood down or suspended from school than children who aren't autistic, a major new study...
Meet The Researcher – Dr Stephanie D’Souza
Dr Stephanie D'Souza is a researcher with A Better Start's Big Data team. She talks about her current project which looks at whether Māori tamariki screened for ADHD concerns are less likely to receive medication than non-Māori, the best piece of advice she was given,...
NZ’s child obesity rates continue to decline: new study
New Zealand preschoolers have resisted the global obesity trend, with an important new study showing rates of child obesity continuing to decline across Aotearoa. The study, led by researchers for A Better Start National Science Challenge, looked at measurements of...
E Tipu e Rea
Grow and Branch Forth
E Tipu e Rea is A Better Start’s Māori name.
In 1949, shortly before his death, Māori leader and scholar Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata of Ngāti Porou wrote into the autograph book of schoolgirl Rangi Bennett a passage about his vision for Māori youth.
E tipu e rea mō ngā rā o tō ao
Ko tō ringa ki ngā rākau a te Pākehā
Hei ora mō te tinana
Ko tō ngākau ki ngā tāonga a ō tīpuna Māori
Hei tikitiki mō tō māhuna
Ko tō wairua ki tō atua
Nānā nei ngā mea katoa.
Grow and branch forth for the days destined to you
Your hands to the tools of the Pākehā
For the welfare of your body
Your heart to the treasures of your ancestors
adornments for your brow
Your spirit to god
Who made all things.
