Health of Pacific Children in New Zealand: Association Between Selected Elements, Behaviour and Body-Size
type: CreativeWork
description: In childhood environmental and dietary exposure to toxic and non-toxic elements may affect development and growth. The elemental concentrations of scalp hair and toenails may reflect chemical uptake via the diet, or environment. Very little is known about the relationship between elemental concentrations in scalp hair and toenails and behavioural and growth characteristics of children in New Zealand. The Pacific Islands Families (PIF) study has provided a unique opportunity for children of age six and nine years to explore such relationships. The overall aim of this research was to collect and analyse the scalp hair and toenails of Pacific children (and in some cases from their mothers) resident in South Auckland, New Zealand (as part of the PIF population study) for calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine, cobalt, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, antimony, arsenic, aluminium, boron, mercury, lead and cadmium. Three questions were addressed: (1) what is the relationship between mercury in scalp hair, reported to originate from fish consumption to behavioural problems; (2) what is the relationship between mercury in toenails and behavioural characteristics and specific behavioural domains (particularly aggression, rule breaking, attention and social problems); and (3) in a population where three out of four children are defined as obese or overweight is there any relationship between elemental concentration in toenails and current body-size? The first study was a nested case-control study which recruited children (with and without behavioural problems) and their mothers to study the effects of mercury through seafood diet and dental amalgams on child behaviour. Hair samples were collected from both mothers and their children as a biomarker for mercury exposure. The second and third studies were cross-sectional studies designed to explore the association of elements on behavioural problems as identified by mothers (using the child behaviour ch…
abstract: In childhood environmental and dietary exposure to toxic and non-toxic elements may affect development and growth. The elemental concentrations of scalp hair and toenails may reflect chemical uptake via the diet, or environment. Very little is known about the relationship between elemental concentrations in scalp hair and toenails and behavioural and growth characteristics of children in New Zealand. The Pacific Islands Families (PIF) study has provided a unique opportunity for children of age six and nine years to explore such relationships. The overall aim of this research was to collect and analyse the scalp hair and toenails of Pacific children (and in some cases from their mothers) resident in South Auckland, New Zealand (as part of the PIF population study) for calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine, cobalt, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, antimony, arsenic, aluminium, boron, mercury, lead and cadmium. Three questions were addressed: (1) what is the relationship between mercury in scalp hair, reported to originate from fish consumption to behavioural problems; (2) what is the relationship between mercury in toenails and behavioural characteristics and specific behavioural domains (particularly aggression, rule breaking, attention and social problems); and (3) in a population where three out of four children are defined as obese or overweight is there any relationship between elemental concentration in toenails and current body-size? The first study was a nested case-control study which recruited children (with and without behavioural problems) and their mothers to study the effects of mercury through seafood diet and dental amalgams on child behaviour. Hair samples were collected from both mothers and their children as a biomarker for mercury exposure. The second and third studies were cross-sectional studies designed to explore the association of elements on behavioural problems as identified by mothers (using the child behaviour ch…
author: Karatela, Shamshad
keywords: Elements, Behaviour, Biomarker, Obesity, Toxic elements, Diet
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:26Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University