Wellington, Nov 23 NZPA - A new initiative to track the economic wellbeing of children and their families will be unveiled this week.

The Social Health Monitor, to be launched at the Paediatric Society's annual conference in Hamilton on Wednesday, w ill track the effects of the economic downturn on child health and poverty.

Child and Youth Epidemiology Service director Elizabeth Craig said effectively monitoring child health and poverty issues will be critical to quickly alerting relevant authorities.

The conference, themed "Starving in the Age of Recession", will feature presentations on the affordability of nutritious food, Maori health perspectives, and successful international health initiatives.

Keynote speaker Susan Morton will discuss the multi-disciplinary Growing Up in New Zealand research programme, which aims to inform policy decisions on child development.

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