Children's Day: New Research Shows NZ Rangatahi Positively Affected By Participating In Arts, Culture & Recreation

"New research out of Auckland’s University of Technology illustrates that New Zealand children who participate in arts, culture and recreation activities experience better wellbeing," says Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Deputy Secretary Policy, Performance & Insights, Emily Fabling.

On Children’s Day (Sunday 2 March 2025), the Arts, Culture and Recreation Participation and Wellbeing Amongst 12-Year-Olds report is being released, which draws on data collected through the well-known Growing Up in New Zealand study.

The Growing Up in New Zealand research project is a longitudinal study undertaken by the University of Auckland. The project follows the lives of more than 6,000 young people and their families from before birth. In 2024, the first specific report studying 12-year-old’s participation and experiences with arts, culture and recreation activities was completed.

"This second report shows that young people who engaged regularly with arts, culture and recreational activities had markedly better wellbeing," says Emily Fabling.

"Our children are engaging with arts and culture through playing sport or belonging to a performing arts group, participating in ngā toi Māori, reading books or listening to music.

"The report shows that children who took part in these activities experience better wellbeing. Some of these benefits include better outcomes in health, peer- and parent-child relationships, quality of life, cultural identity and school engagement.

"The findings this year strengthen the recommendations from the first report released in 2024 and continue to build on what we already know - that ultimately, engagement in arts, culture and recreation activities is essential for our young people," says Emily Fabling.

The illuminating findings also add "more in-depth understanding of how young people’s wellbeing is boosted by participating in extracurricular and free-time activities", says AUT lecturer, and lead researcher, Dr Rebecca Evans.

"Our report took into account a holistic view of young people’s wellbeing, and was framed using a Māori model of health that considered many different aspects, such as a person’s wairua (spiritual health), and here tangata (social and familial ties).

"Findings suggest that regularly getting involved is linked to markedly better wellbeing in all of these areas.

"Kids that do at least five extracurricular activities (like sport practice, music lessons or kapa haka) have the strongest wellbeing scores. This effect was also seen where young people participated in at least four regular free-time activities (like drawing or playing outdoors).

"We also specifically examined participation in ngā toi Māori activities and found that they contribute positively to wellbeing across demographics, including better school engagement. The report suggests that opportunities to engage in ngā toi Māori activities should be provided whenever possible.

"This is the most comprehensive research to date that shows a diverse range of wellbeing benefits are achieved when our rangatahi participate in arts, cultural and recreational activities," says Dr Rebecca Evans.

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