In June 2008 the initial findings for adults and children from the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey were released in A Portrait of Health: Key results of the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey. The publication A Focus on the Health of Māori and Pacific Children focuses specifically on findings for Māori and Pacific children that were not explored in the initial report.
The findings presented in this report confirm that there are disparities both in health outcomes and in the exposure to risk and health behaviours between Māori and non-Māori children and between Pacific and non-Pacific children. There are also differences in the access to and use of both primary health and oral health services. These findings support the ongoing prioritisation of these two groups of children in monitoring and policy development.