🧺 Te Kete Ako

Health Education Correlation

Health Education Correlation · Years 10–12

Year LevelYears 10–12
TypeStudent handout — classroom resource

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions

  • Identify and apply strategies to maintain and enhance personal hauora
  • Understand how the four pou of Te Whare Tapa Whā are interconnected
  • Recognise how cultural identity, relationships, and community affect wellbeing
  • Set realistic goals for improving at least one dimension of your hauora

Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria

  • I can explain at least two strategies for supporting hauora across the four pou
  • I can identify how my cultural background or relationships affect my wellbeing
  • My goal for improving hauora is specific, realistic, and clearly linked to evidence
  • I can explain the interconnection between at least two pou using a personal example
📊 Statistics 🏥 Health Education 🎓 Year 10–12 🇳🇿 NZC Level 5–7

Health Education Correlation

💚 Hauora — using data to understand holistic wellbeing
"He waka eke noa — he ōranga tāngata" — A canoe we paddle together — wellbeing belongs to everyone.
(Hauora (health) is not an individual achievement; it is a communal responsibility. Data helps communities understand and address wellbeing collectively.)

Correlation is one of the most powerful statistical tools for understanding health. It measures the strength and direction of relationships between variables — for example, between sleep hours and academic performance, or between exercise frequency and cardiovascular health. This handout uses real New Zealand health data to develop correlation and regression skills, while situating these statistics within the hauora model — the Māori holistic framework for wellbeing that encompasses taha tinana (physical), taha wairua (spiritual), taha whānau (family/social), and taha hinengaro (mental-emotional).

Part 1 — Scatter Plots & Correlation Coefficients

The following data from a NZ school health survey shows weekly exercise hours and self-reported wellbeing score (0–10 scale) for 15 students.

Student Weekly exercise (hours) Wellbeing score (/10) x² y² xy
A 1.0 4.2
B 1.5 5.1
C 2.0 5.8
D 2.5 6.0
E 3.0 7.2
F 3.5 6.8
G 4.0 7.5
H 4.5 8.1
I 5.0 7.9
J 5.5 8.6
K 6.0 8.4
L 6.5 9.0
M 7.0 8.8
N 2.0 3.8
O 8.0 9.2
Σ
  1. Plot a scatter graph of this data (exercise hours on x-axis 0–9, wellbeing on y-axis 0–10). Draw the line of best fit by eye. Describe the correlation (direction, strength, form).
  2. Complete the x², y², and xy columns. Calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient r:
    r = [n·Σxy − Σx·Σy] ÷ √[(n·Σx² − (Σx)²)(n·Σy² − (Σy)²)]
    Interpret your value of r: is the correlation weak, moderate, strong, or very strong?
  3. Student N has 2.0 hours of exercise but only scores 3.8 on wellbeing — well below the expected trend. Identify this as an outlier on your graph. Suggest TWO possible explanations for why this student might be an outlier despite exercising 2 hours per week.
  4. Find the equation of the regression line (line of best fit) using:
    ŷ = ȳ + r·(Sy/Sx)·(x − x̄)    where x̄ = mean of x, ȳ = mean of y, Sx and Sy = standard deviations
    Use your regression line to predict wellbeing for a student who exercises 4.2 hours per week.

Part 2 — Health Inequity in Aotearoa: Reading the Numbers

Correlation can reveal health inequities across population groups. The following data compares key health indicators between Māori, Pacific, and NZ European populations (Ministry of Health 2023):

Indicator Māori Pacific NZ European
Obesity rate (BMI >30) 48% 66% 29%
Diabetes (type 2) rate 9.8% 14.2% 4.2%
Physical activity (meets guidelines) 44% 37% 52%
Mental health (good/excellent) 61% 68% 73%
Fruit & veg (5+ daily servings) 36% 39% 47%
Smoking rate 27% 19% 9%
GP access (within 24 hours) 58% 52% 74%
  1. For each indicator where Māori outcomes are worse than NZ European, calculate the percentage gap. Which indicator has the largest absolute gap? Which the smallest?
  2. Correlation hypothesis: Propose a hypothesis about what factor (e.g., income, housing quality, GP access) might best explain the overall health gap. Design a study with at least 4 variables you would measure to test this hypothesis.
  3. Correlation ≠ causation: The data shows a correlation between ethnicity and health outcomes. Does this mean ethnicity causes worse health? Write a paragraph explaining the difference between correlation and causation, and identify the confounding variables that might explain the correlation (e.g., income, housing, discrimination, historical trauma).

Part 3 — Te Whare Tapa Whā: A Model Beyond Statistics

Te Whare Tapa Whā (Mason Durie, 1984) models hauora as a four-walled whare (house): Taha Tinana (physical health), Taha Hinengaro (mental-emotional), Taha Wairua (spiritual), and Taha Whānau (family/social). If any wall is weak, the house is unstable. This model recognises that health statistics about physical indicators alone are incomplete — you cannot understand someone's health without understanding their spiritual connection, their whānau relationships, and their sense of purpose.

  1. The exercise/wellbeing scatter plot from Part 1 measures only taha tinana (physical). Design a survey instrument with 8 questions (2 per dimension of Te Whare Tapa Whā) that would give a more complete picture of student hauora.
  2. Why might western health statistics using BMI as a primary metric be culturally inappropriate for Māori and Pacific populations? Research at least one alternative health metric that better aligns with hauora principles (e.g., the Palmerston North "Flourishing" scale, or the Mason Durie wellbeing index).
  3. Data justice: Health data about Māori is often collected by non-Māori institutions. This raises questions about data sovereignty — who owns data about a community? Research the concept of "Māori data sovereignty" (look up Te Mana Raraunga). What principles does this movement advocate? Do you agree data sovereignty is a health issue? Why or why not?

💚 Whakamutunga — He aha te mea nui?

Statistics reveal patterns — but patterns are not destiny. The health disparities between Māori and other populations in Aotearoa are real, measurable, and in many cases worsening. But they are not inevitable. They are the result of specific historical decisions, structural inequities, and ongoing barriers. Understanding the data is the first step to changing it — through advocacy, policy, and community action.

Te wero: Using MoH data tools (stats.govt.nz or minhealthnz.data.govt.nz), find ONE health statistic for your region comparing Māori and non-Māori outcomes. Describe what it shows, what might cause the gap, and one specific action that could reduce it.

🌿 Ngā Rauemi Hono — Related Resources

Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment

Health and Physical Education — Hauora

Level 3–4: Identify and develop strategies to maintain and enhance hauora across the four dimensions of Te Whare Tapa Whā; understand how relationships, identity, and cultural connections shape wellbeing.

Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3–4: Understand how social and cultural factors affect health equity; recognise the impact of community, whānau, and cultural identity on individual and collective wellbeing.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

Te Whare Tapa Whā reminds us that wellbeing is not a single dimension but a balance across taha tinana (physical), taha hinengaro (mental and emotional), taha wairua (spiritual), and taha whānau (family and social). Māori frameworks for health do not separate the individual from their relationships, their culture, or their place in the world. This means that supporting student wellbeing in an Aotearoa classroom means supporting the whole person — including their cultural identity, their connection to whānau, and the practices and places that nourish their wairua. Health education that ignores culture misses the most powerful determinants of wellbeing for many students in our classrooms.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided

This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. Related materials are linked in the unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this hauora resource to build holistic wellbeing knowledge, connecting te ao Māori perspectives on hauora with personal, social, and environmental dimensions of health.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ Students can explain key hauora concepts using their own words and personal examples.
  • ✅ Students can connect te ao Māori frameworks (e.g. Te Whare Tapa Whā) to real wellbeing contexts.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, graphic organisers, and entry-level tasks to scaffold access. Offer extension challenges for capable learners to address a range of readiness levels.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary (hauora, wairua, tinana, hinengaro, whānau). Allow students to draw or respond in their home language as a first step.

Inclusion: Hauora topics can be sensitive — create a safe learning environment. Neurodiverse learners benefit from choice in how they demonstrate wellbeing understanding. Use accessible, non-threatening language.