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Contact Details

Phone
+64 4 832 3177
Email
christina.mckerchar@otago.ac.nz
Position
Associate Professor in Māori Health and Associate Dean (Māori), Faculty of Medicine (Christchurch)
Department
Department of Public Health (Christchurch)
Qualifications
BCApSc, MSc, PhD
Research summary
Nutrition and Maori Health

Research

Christina is of Nagti Kahungunu, Tuhoe and Ngati Porou descent. She trained as a nutritionist, and worked for a number of years, for Te Hotu Manawa Maori a national Maori Health provider. She has also worked for Agencies for Nutrition Action, a coalition group of non-government organisations who have an interest in nutrition.

Christina is also completing a PhD and her topic is: Food availability for Māori children: A rights based approach. Is the right to healthy food realised for Māori children in their lived environments? If not, what policy options would impact on this right being realised?

The study is a mixed-method inquiry informed by Kaupapa Māori research principles.

Her research interests include: public health nutrition, food security and Maori health.

Publications

Clark, M. t. R., Jordan, J., Summers, N., Clarke, R., & McKerchar, C. (2026). Enacting policy: Mapping Kaupapa Māori aspirations onto the New Zealand Eating Issues and Eating Disorders Strategy. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 139(1635), 68-80. doi: 10.26635/6965.7275 Journal - Research Article

Cleghorn, C., Kidd, B., Morris, T., & McKerchar, C. (2026). Food policies to support healthy and environmentally sustainable diets. The Briefing, (8 April). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/food-policies-support-healthy-and-environmentally-sustainable-diets Journal - Research Other

Cleghorn, C., McKerchar, C., Kidd, B., & Ni Mhurchu, C. (2026). Modelled health impacts of three stakeholder-selected policies to support healthy and environmentally sustainable population diets in New Zealand. Food Policy, 140, 103049. doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103049 Journal - Research Article

Frost, H., Te Morenga, L., Mackay, S., McKerchar, C., Cole, E., & Egli, V. (2026). Alcohol marketing exposure to children in New Zealand: A systematic narrative review. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 56, e70007. doi: 10.1002/snz2.70007 Journal - Research Other

Worters, T., McKerchar, C., Gage, R., Reidy, J., & Signal, L. (2026). Piecing together piecemeal regulation: Stakeholder insights into joint statutory regulation to reduce children's unhealthy commodity marketing exposure in Aotearoa New Zealand. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 37(2), e70153. doi: 10.1002/hpja.70153 Journal - Research Article

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