Ladan Hashemi: Lead Author on the report into the prevalence of childhood trauma in New Zealand

Almost all Kiwi children experience significant trauma before the age of 10. 

That's the finding of new Auckland University research, published in the European Journal of Public Health. 

The study's also found children who experienced at least one traumatic event were twice as likely to be obese by the age of eight. 

Lead author Ladan Hashemi told Tim Beveridge that they were looking to see if children had been exposed to things such as domestic violence, mental health issues, and alcohol misuse, which have a high prevalence in New Zealand. 

She says that when all of the categories are combined, the prevalence of trauma is quite high and unsurprising. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's a staggering amount of kei. We kids are experiencing
significant trauma by the age of eight. A study of
five thousand children by the University of Auckland found eighty
seven percent of them experienced major setbacks before adulthood. It's
an overwhelming increase on past studies, which could have future implications.
Honorary Senior Research Fellow and lead author doctor Ladan Hashimi
joins me, Now, actually she doesn't. We've just lost the

(00:39):
connection there. We have had a bit of trouble with
connecting through to her. But the study is we may
not actually get to talk to We'll see how we go.
But just to Filly Win a bit on it and
the questions I'm dying to ask for, actually is it
does seem like a staggering figure a study of five
thousand children. So let's see if we can connect through
doctor Simi. How are you good morning?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'm please make you good morning.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
So were these figures surprising?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Not really, It's been for a while that we knew
the experiences that the included in or a study including
domestic violence, mental health issues, alcohol, misuse, this kind of
self they have high prevalence in mu Zealand. So for
this study, we're looking at to see if children have
been exposed to at least one of these. So if

(01:30):
you add them together, the privilence is going to be
quite high.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
How did you How did you select the five thousand children?
Is it random or.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
No? No, the doing Upanese in and which is the
largest long diginalist study in New Zealand. So they included
every single child that had had they had daughter on
childhood orb City. That was all main outcome for the study.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Sorry, sorry I didn't quite catch that. How did you
select them?

Speaker 3 (01:58):
So they included every single child that participated in growing
Upanese in a study, which is the largest cohort of
children in the It is even that beIN as study's
in two thousand and nine. Yeah, so this is not
this is not this is randomly selected children.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
It's not like we what a significant trauma trauma.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
So the kind of bad experiences or adverse experiences that
would have significant distress or stress they're putting on children.
So they're going to deal with that the effects of
those bad expenses for a long time, so they call
them traumatic experiences or adverse childhood experience and they need

(02:42):
to do it.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Sounds apocalyptic, like we're just an absolute basket case. Eighty
seven percent of kids. Sounds like we're we're lost.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yeah, And this is all just up to age eight.
So the childhood goes up to age eighteen. So as
they grow them, they very luckily they're going to collect
more bad experiences. Of the time.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
What there'll be people listening Here'll be thinking, well, every
general of children has its problems. That kids have grown
up and during the course of wars and all sorts
of things, are we over are we over dramatizing this
because it sounds to me like it's pretty att over
the top.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
If you look at the impact of these experiences on
their life now, like if we look at the impact
on the child of the city, we look at the
impact on their mental health, they are huge. The children
who experienced at least one of these bad experiences, they
were twice more likely to do all this at age

(03:44):
at age eight. So I don't think you're exaggerating about
the impact of these bad experiences, regardless of how we
define them. The children who experience that they are experiencing
huge impact on them being an eSchool outcome, the mental, health, physical,
all aspects of their life.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, okay, well look I really appreciate your time this morning.
That's doctor Ladan Shemi from University of Auckland.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
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