Recent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines around housing and health recommend reducing household crowding, setting 18°C as a minimum safe indoor temperature in cold seasons, and minimising or avoiding persistent dampness and microbial growth in homes.

This report uses Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) data from 2010/11 to investigate the relationship between indoor damp, mould, cold, and household crowding and the health outcomes of young children exposed to those conditions in Aotearoa.