Cameron Charles Grant

University of Auckland · Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, distribution, and disposal issues worldwide. Calls to conserve PPE stocks and increase supply resulted in the rapid development of potential disinfection methods, with the possibility of improvements in medical waste reduction. However, how receptive heal...

Vascular biomarkers are substances that are found in the blood or other bodily fluids and can be measured to assess the health and function of the vascular system, which includes the arteries, veins, and capillaries that carry blood throughout the body. The study of vascular biomarkers has gained increasing attention in recent years due to the high...

New Zealand (NZ)’s elimination of community transmission of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in May 2020, due to stringent COVID-19 countermeasures, provided a rare opportunity to assess the impact of border restrictions and relaxations on common respiratory viral infections over the subsequent two-years. Using multiple su...

Objectives: Safety and welfare are critical as pandemic-related demands on the healthcare workforce continue. Access to personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a central concern of healthcare workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Against the backdrop of an already strained healthcare system, our study aimed to explore the experiences of h...

Introduction Uptake of maternal vaccinations (MVs) is suboptimal in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly for Māori. Aim To describe Māori women’s journeys regarding maternal pertussis and influenza vaccinations and explore influences on uptake. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand, with pregnant or rece...

New Zealand research on inequities in children’s developmental health outcomes is sparse. We aimed to describe the prevalence, clustering, and socio-environmental associations of developmental health in preschool-aged children. A latent profile analysis was performed using data from child participants of Growing Up in New Zealand at age 4.5-years t...

Aim: Breastfeeding is a fundamental aspect of tikanga Māori (Māori cultural traditions/practices) requiring protection and promotion. This study identifies determinants of exclusive breastfeeding in wāhine Māori. Methods: Wāhine Māori enrolled in the Growing Up in New Zealand child cohort study participated (n=1060). Exclusive breastfeeding dura...

A nationally generalisable cohort (n=5770, 7-12-month-old children) was used to determine prevalence of non-timely (early/late) introduction of complementary food and core food groups and associations with maternal sociodemographic and health behaviours in New Zealand (NZ). Variables describing maternal characteristics and infant food introduction...

Growing Up in New Zealand is this country’s largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development. The study has been designed to provide insight into the lives of children and young people growing up in the context of twenty-first century New Zealand. The Growing Up in New Zealand cohort recruited 6853 children representative of the current...

There have been widespread issues with the supply and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) globally throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, raising considerable public concern. We aimed to understand the experiences of healthcare workers using PPE during the first COVID-19 surge (February–June 2020) in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ). This study...

Although maternal pertussis vaccination is recommended, uptake is suboptimal in New Zealand (NZ), despite full funding in general practice and hospitals. We determined whether funding maternal pertussis vaccination in community pharmacy increases its uptake. Pertussis vaccination during pregnancy was compared between non-contiguous, demographically...

The uptake of maternal influenza and pertussis vaccinations is often suboptimal. This study explores the factors influencing pregnant women’s and health care professionals’ (HCPs) behaviour regarding maternal vaccinations (MVs). Pregnant/recently pregnant women, midwives, pharmacists and general practice staff in Waikato, New Zealand, were intervie...

Aim To enable improvements in global child health, the focus must move beyond child survival to child wellbeing. In the Pacific Islands, the wellbeing of children has received little attention. This study aimed to investigate the wellbeing of children from three primary schools in Tonga. Methods A cross-sectional survey was completed in three prim...

Objective To examine the relationship between dietary practices and sleep in young children. Methods Two-year-old children (n=6327) and their mothers were enrolled at birth and during pregnancy, respectively. The study obtained maternal demographic, health, and lifestyle data during late pregnancy. Parents reported the two-year-old child's dietary...

Background : The WHO is exploring the value of adding RSV testing to existing influenza surveillance systems to inform RSV control programs. We evaluate the usefulness of four commonly used influenza surveillance case-definitions for influenza and RSV surveillance. Methods : SHIVERS, a multi-institutional collaboration, conducted surveillance for...

The information fathers receive about infant vaccination may influence their decision to vaccinate. We describe fathers’ sources of vaccination information and paternal determinants of timely infant vaccinations. Participants were from a child cohort study in New Zealand. The child cohort was established by enrolling pregnant women and their partne...

Using data from a nationally generalisable birth cohort, we aimed to: (i) describe the cohort's adherence to national evidence-based dietary guidelines using an Infant Feeding Index (IFI) and (ii) assess the IFI's convergent construct validity, by exploring associations with antenatal maternal socio-demographic and health behaviours and with child...

The relationship of protein intake with insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) concentrations in well-nourished children during the second year of life is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of a reduced-protein Growing Up Milk Lite (GUMLi) or unfortified cow's milk (CM) on protein intake, growth, and plasma IGF-1 at 2...

Background Mathematical models of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) transmission can help describe seasonal epidemics and assess the impact of potential vaccines and immunoprophylaxis with monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Methods We developed a deterministic, compartmental model for RSV transmission, which was fitted to population-based RSV hospital s...

Aim This study aimed to investigate the variability by ethnicity, socio‐economic status and location in coverage and testability of the universal B4 School Check vision screening in children aged 4–5 years in New Zealand. Methods Aggregated data from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2015 were sourced from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastru...

Objective Child and adolescent obesity continues to be a major health issue internationally. This study aims to understand the views and experiences of caregivers and participants in a child and adolescent multidisciplinary programme for healthy lifestyle change. Design Qualitative focus group study. Setting Community-based healthy lifestyle inte...

Aim: To document trends in number and cost of asthma hospital admissions and asthma prescriptions in children (0-14 years) from 2010-2019 in New Zealand. Method: A retrospective analysis of public hospital admission and pharmaceutical prescription data. Results: The dataset included 39,731 hospitalisations with asthma as a discharge diagnosis...

Background: Hospital admission for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) during early childhood is a global public health concern. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent during pregnancy and infancy. Evidence indicates that vitamin D supplementation prevents ARIs. Objectives: To determine whether vitamin D deficiency at birth is associated with ARI hos...

Purpose Preschool children in New Zealand undergo vision screening to detect amblyopia at 4–5 years of age. The current test, the Parr vision test, does not meet international visual acuity chart guidelines and has not been validated against other commonly used paediatric vision tests. New Zealand vision screening protocols are also not targeted fo...

The failure to mount an antibody response following viral infection or seroconversion failure is a largely underappreciated and poorly understood phenomenon. Here, we identified immunologic markers associated with robust antibody responses after influenza virus infection in two independent human cohorts, SHIVERS and FLU09, based in Auckland, New Ze...

In a recent issue of the BMC Public Health journal, Littlewood et al. described the results of a systematic review of interventions to prevent or treat childhood obesity in Māori or Pacific Island peoples. They found that studies to date have had limited impact on improving health outcomes for Māori and Pacific Island peoples, and suggest this may...

Background A 2017 meta-analysis of data from 25 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) revealed a protective effect of this intervention. We aimed to examine the link between vitamin D supplementation and prevention of ARIs in an updated meta-analysis. Methods For...

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk of adult obesity and related chronic disease. Our aim was to identify modifiable exposures that are independently associated with obesity in the preschool age group. Methods: A prospective cohort study of 5734 children in New Zealand with anthropometric measurements was completed a...

Stringent nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as lockdowns and border closures are not currently recommended for pandemic influenza control. New Zealand used these NPIs to eliminate coronavirus disease 2019 during its first wave. Using multiple surveillance systems, we observed a parallel and unprecedented reduction of influenza and other r...

Participants were 5,831 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, part of a large, longitudinal, pre-birth national cohort study. Women reported on their experience of pushing and shoving, throwing or breaking objects within their relationship over the past month. Univariable regression models examined the association of a large number of potent...

Introduction: There is minimal information available that describes the health of children of primary school age (5-12 years) living in the Pacific. Current tools that exist for measurement of health have not been developed with Pacific paradigms in mind. Our objective was to describe the development of a culturally and contextually appropriate hea...

Stringent nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as lockdowns and border closures are not currently recommended for pandemic influenza control. New Zealand used these NPIs to eliminate coronavirus disease 2019 during its first wave. Using multiple surveillance systems, we observed a parallel and unprecedented reduction of influenza and other r...

Background Child maltreatment is an issue for which there are limited data from the Pacific region. Objective This study aimed to describe caregiver and teacher viewpoints regarding child maltreatment in Tonga. Participants and Setting A survey that investigated the health of primary school children in Tonga was developed. Items on child maltreat...

Purpose: Despite evidence that childhood obesity is influenced by early life events and environmental exposures, the contribution of diet in infancy to the development of overweight/obesity remains relatively unexplored. Most studies investigating the effect of infant feeding on overweight/obesity focus on discrete practices (e.g. breastfeeding) an...

Respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisations among young children: a data linkage study – Erratum - Volume 148 - Namrata Prasad, E. Claire Newbern, Adrian A. Trenholme, Tim Wood, Mark G. Thompson, Nayyereh Aminisani, Q. Sue Huang, Cameron C. Grant

Background: The Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI) is a commonly used standardized test of visual-motor integration. Performance on the test is related to academic achievement, but the effect of reduced visual acuity on test results is unknown. This study determined the visual acuity demand and the spacing of the test for...

The Eating Assessment in Toddlers FFQ (EAT FFQ) has been shown to have good reliability and comparative validity for ranking nutrient intakes in young children. With the addition of food items ( n 4), we aimed to re-assess the validity of the EAT FFQ and estimate calibration factors in a sub-sample of children ( n 97) participating in the Growing U...

Background: Estimates of the contribution of respiratory viruses to emergency department (ED) utilization remain limited. Methods: We conducted surveillance of infants with acute respiratory infection (ARI) associated ED visits, which then resulted in either hospital admission or discharge home. Seasonal rates of specific viruses stratified by a...

Objectives: To assess the overall effect of vitamin D supplementation on risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI), and to identify factors modifying this effect. Design: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D for ARI prevention using a random effects model. Pre-specified sub...

Objective To determine whether 12‐month BMI SDS reductions persisted at 24 months in a multi‐disciplinary assessment and intervention program for children and adolescents with obesity, and whether secondary outcomes improved. Methods This was a community‐based 12‐month RCT in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Eligible participants were aged 5 to 16 years with...

Background The relative importance of different strategies to prevent dental caries are not known. Aim We explored the relationship between oral health behaviours, diet and the incidence of dental caries. Design We conducted a study of children participating in the “Growing Up in New Zealand” cohort. Exposures were oral health behaviours, a food...

Background: In contrast with respiratory disease caused by influenza, information on the risk of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease among adults with chronic medical conditions (CMCs) is limited. Methods: We linked population based surveillance of acute respiratory illness hospitalizations to national administrative data, to estimate seas...

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is increasingly recognized as an important cause of illness in adults; however, data on RSV disease and economic burden in this age group remain limited. We aimed to provide comprehensive estimates of RSV disease burden among adults aged ≥18 years. Methods During 2012–2015, population-based, active surv...

Background: A policy to extend funding of maternal pregnancy influenza and pertussis vaccinations to community pharmacies could address low pregnancy vaccine uptake. The policy has been implemented in one region in New Zealand. This study explored the views and experiences of women eligible for the vaccines and health care professionals regarding f...

Bordetella are small Gram-negative coccobacilli, of which Bordetella pertussis is the most important human pathogen. Bordetella pertussis is the cause of whooping cough, which remains one of the 10 leading causes of death among children less than five years old. Transmission of this highly infectious organism is primarily by aerosolized droplets. T...

Objective: Maternal depression is associated with infant and child sleep patterns, and with infant temperament. Here, we examine whether infant temperament mediated an association between maternal antenatal depression and toddler sleep. Method: Within the prebirth longitudinal cohort Growing Up in New Zealand, symptoms of antenatal and postnatal...

Background Birth cohort studies are a valuable source of information about potential risk factors for childhood asthma. To better understand similarities and variations in findings between birth cohort studies, the methodologies used to measure asthma require consideration. Objective To review and appraise the definitions of “asthma” used in birth...

Importance Antibiotic exposures in early life may affect weight by altering gut microbiota, potentially increasing the likelihood of childhood obesity. Objective To examine whether repeated antibiotic exposure by age 48 months is associated with higher body mass index (BMI) at age 54 months. Design, Setting, and Participants This research was und...

Objective: This study examined prospective associations of the home language environment (HLE) and household crowding with expressive language development in 2-year-old children using the data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study, a population-based prospective cohort study. Methods: A total of 5960 children were included. The HLE (playing g...

Background: Comprehensive vision screening programmes for children are an important part of public health strategy, but do not exist in many countries, including Tonga. This project set out to assess: (1) the functional vision of children attending primary schools in Tonga and (2) how a new recognition acuity test (The Auckland Optotypes displayed...

Objective: In contrast with multimorbidity during adulthood, the relationship of childhood multimorbidity with socioeconomic position (SEP) is poorly understood. We aimed to describe early childhood multimorbidity and investigate the relationship of this with SEP. Methods: Within a diverse prospective child cohort study we determined association...

Background: Research on infant feeding tends to focus on discrete practices, making it difficultto summarize this critical period to reflect the whole infant diet simultaneously [...]

Background: Nutrition in the first year of life has a profound and enduring effect on health.This study is the first in New Zealand (NZ) to provide generalizable national information about arange of infant feeding practices beyond breastfeeding [...]

Background: Growing Up Milk (GUM) was developed to assist young children in meeting their nutritional requirements during the second year of life. However, there is limited evidence that GUM improves nutritional status and growth in young children. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of consuming Growing Up Milk "Lite" (GUMLi) (reduced protein wi...

Objective/design It remains unclear as to the efficacy of readiness for change measurements in child and adolescent obesity intervention programmes. This observational study aimed to determine whether the caregiver’s stage of change could predict outcome and adherence to treatment in an intensive intervention programme for children and adolescents...

Objectives It is unclear whether an association exists between obesity in children/adolescents and cognitive function, and whether the latter can be altered by body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) reductions. We aimed to determine whether an association exists between BMI SDS and cognitive function in children/adolescents with obesi...

Purpose: Reliable estimation of visual acuity requires that observers maintain a constant distance from the target, but use of chin rests is not always feasible. Our aim was to quantify children's movement during community testing and its impact on near (40 cm) and intermediate (150 cm) acuity measures. Methods: Thirty-three 7-year-old children...

Food security (FS) during infancy is associated with lifelong outcomes. New Zealand is a developed economy that reports poor childhood nutrition-related health statistics, particularly among minority children, yet has no measure of FS applicable to infancy. The objective was to develop an FS index for New Zealand infants and examine its association...

scores provide an alternative approach to measuring dietary quality. The Growing Up Milk-Lite (GUMLi) Trial was a multi-centre, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial of children randomised to receive a reduced protein GUM (GUMLi) or unfortified cow’s milk (CM). In a secondary analysis of the GUMLi Trial, we used the Probability of Adequate Nu...

Background Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the potential of vitamin D to prevent acute respiratory infections have yielded mixed results. Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis has the potential to identify factors that may explain this heterogeneity. Objectives To assess the overall effect of vitamin D supplementation on th...

We aimed to provide comprehensive estimates of laboratory-confirmed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated hospitalisations. Between 2012 and 2015, active surveillance of acute respiratory infection (ARI) hospitalisations during winter seasons was used to estimate the seasonal incidence of laboratory-confirmed RSV hospitalisations in children...

The second year of life is a period of nutritional vulnerability. We aimed to investigate the dietary patterns and nutrient intakes from 1 to 2 years of age during the 12-month follow-up period of the Growing Up Milk - Lite (GUMLi) trial. The GUMLi trial was a multi-centre, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial of 160 healthy 1-year-old child...

Objective To simulate effects of different scenarios of folic acid fortification of food on dietary folate equivalents (DFE) intake in an ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women. Design A forty-four-item FFQ was used to evaluate dietary intake of the population. DFE intakes were estimated for different scenarios of food fortification with foli...

Significant ethnic and socio-economic disparities exist in infectious diseases (IDs) rates in New Zealand, so accurate measures of these characteristics are required. This study compared methods of ascribing ethnicity and socio-economic status. Children in the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort were ascribed to self-prioritised, total re...

Food security (FS) during infancy is associated with lifelong outcomes. New Zealand is a developed economy that reports poor childhood nutrition-related health statistics, particularly among minority children, yet has no measure of FS applicable to infancy. The objective was to develop a FS index for New Zealand infants and examine its association...

When fathers live away from their children, taking an active paternal role may become challenging and can add to paternal psychological distress. In a large (N = 3,980) diverse cohort, we found that nonresident fathers are more likely to be psychologically distressed than resident fathers (27.4% vs. 15.2%) and more likely to report wanting a change...