A Kaupapa Māori Review of Māori Food Data Within National Health Surveys in Aotearoa New Zealand

This paper presents a kaupapa Māori analysis of six national health surveys in Aotearoa New Zealand that collect food and nutrition data from Māori. The concepts of Māori Nutrition Data Sovereignty (MNDS) and Māori Nutrition Data Governance (MNDG) are introduced and applied through a novel framework for assessing surveys and Māori food data in line with MNDS and MNDG principles. The methodologies and governance structures of six national health surveys were critically examined using this novel framework. The findings demonstrate substantial gaps in culturally safe and self-determined data practices for Māori, with several surveys scoring poorly on MNDS and MNDG criteria. This study highlights the entrenchment of colonial and deficit-based food-data practices in Aotearoa New Zealand, the effects of which are connected to Māori nutritional health inequities. This paper advocates for structural data reforms and proposes implementing the MNDS and MNDG framework in national health surveys that collect food data from Māori, as a mechanism for mitigating the harms associated with deficit-based food data. Such harms include individualised health stigma and racialised blame for nutritional health inequities. This study also highlights the need to develop Māori-led food and nutrition data systems and assessment tools that uphold Māori values and support health equity. This review contributes to ongoing efforts to decolonise health data systems and affirm mana motuhake, that is, the self-determination of Māori in the collection and use of Māori data.