A significant proportion of acutely unwell children presenting to hospital were not transported by ambulance, particularly those aged less than 1 year. This has the potential to result in worse health outcomes. There were no identified associations with patient demographics, and further research is required to better understand this problem and develop solutions.

Aim: Good nutrition is vital to a growing child's health and development. It is unclear if New Zealand families are able to afford to provide meals that meet national nutritional guidelines for their children. The aim of the present study was to calculate the cost of meal plans, which include New Zealand European and Tongan food preferences and meet New Zealand national nutrition guidelines for children in three age groups (3-5, 5-10 and 13-14 years) in different regions of Auckland. Methods: Meal plan exemplars from New Zealand national Food and Nutrition Guidelines were used to define both the European plan and the Tongan plan for each age group. Meal ingredient prices were measured in shops in January 2008 within seven randomly chosen, 'most deprived' (decile 10) areas and seven 'least deprived areas' (decile 1) in the Auckland region. Results: The average annual cost of food for one child was, in New Zealand Dollars, $1472 (3-5 year old) to $4411 per year (13-14 year old) from supermarket pricings only. The Tongan adolescent ($3188) and 3-5 year olds' plans ($1665) were cheaper than their European equivalents ($4282, $1759, respectively). No difference was demonstrated between most and least deprived areas (P = 0.91). Large volume options were usually cheaper than small volume options. Conclusion: Providing diets for children that are nutritionally appropriate requires on average 33% of the childrelated component of New Zealand Government provisions for low socioeconomic families in 2007. New Zealand should consider further strategies to make children's meals more affordable for low-income families.