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Story: Body shape and dieting

Children's height and weight: Kiwi kids, 1913-1969

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These graphs show the changes in average height and weight of New Zealand 10-year-olds between 1913 and 1969. Separate data for Māori children was not available until 1934. There was a significant increase in the height of both boys and girls, especially after the lean depression years of the early 1930s. Girls tended to be slightly shorter and lighter than boys in the 1930s, but the balance changed around the Second World War. Māori girls were both taller and heavier than Māori boys from the time the data was first collected.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1970 and 1975

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

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How to cite this page

Caroline Daley, Body shape and dieting – Average heights and weights, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/41388/childrens-height-and-weight-kiwi-kids-1913-1969 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Caroline Daley, published 22 April 2013.