The Growing Up in New Zealand COVID-19 Wellbeing Survey. Part 1: Health and Wellbeing.

In March 2020, the New Zealand Government introduced a four-level COVID-19 alert system, with each level considering the immediate level of risk and outlining the required restrictions that legally had to be followed to minimise the risk of catching and/or spreading COVID-19. As the levels increased, restrictions increased on population movement, travel, and gatherings. The alert levels were Level 1 (Prepare); Level 2 (Reduce); Level 3 (Restrict); and Level 4 (Lockdown).

This policy brief draws on findings from a bespoke online COVID-19 Wellbeing Survey delivered early in the first nationwide lockdown in May 2020 when the country was at COVID-19 Alert Levels 2 and 3 and completed by 2,421 children aged 10-11 years participating in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study. The survey provided the opportunity to: 1) determine the children’s experiences during Alert Levels 2 - 4, including their health and mental wellbeing, schooling, connectedness, media use, and nutrition; and 2) ascertain the level of engagement by the cohort in a bespoke online digital data collection process.

This report focusses on the health and mental wellbeing outcomes from the survey and compares the findings to when the children were approximately eight years of age.