From the earliest days, the Dunedin Study has had societal impact (e.g., [78–82]). This can be seen initially in the 1982 report “Child Health and Child Health Services in New Zealand”. This was a landmark document at the time and was heavily informed by findings from the first decade of the Dunedin Study, both in terms of mapping the prevalence of child health problems, and informing resource allocation and service planning for New Zealand children by the Ministry of Health. Indeed, a nation-wide health and development screening programme grew out of this work and was an important precursor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s Well-Child programme currently administered by the Plunket Society (a national baby and infant home visiting service founded 107 years ago), employing specialist nurses for seven mandated health checks between birth and age 5, and available to all comers). The ‘Health and Development Record’ followed, which for the first time held all the health information on a child in one place from birth through to adolescence. It was designed with charts and notes to be updated
