Health patterns in New Zealand: Class, ethnicity and the impact of economic development

Abstract

In the broad sweep the experience of New Zealand in health trends and patterns is similar to that of other advanced industrial societies, yet there are some important differences that draw on the country's colonial past and, more particularly, on its location in the South Pacific. Of special note is the historical experience of the indigenous Polynesian minority—the Maori—in their passage through the demographic transition to their current position in the modern urban environment. It is this dual phase of development—industrialisation for the European majority, ‘westernisation’ for the Polynesians—that provides the special interest of the New Zealand setting, particularly in the analysis of class and ethnicity in the shaping of health patterns.