Footnotes

• Contributors AJD is a public health physician with an interest in child health and is a Health Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellow at University of Otago. AJD prepared the manuscript, reviewed the surveys and conducted the statistical analysis. MR is a research fellow at University of Otago and a member of EPOCH New Zealand (End Punishment of Children, a charitable trust promoting positive non-violent child discipline). MR conducted the literature review, collected and reviewed the surveys and prepared a first draft. BW is co-founder of EPOCH New Zealand and former advocacy manager for UNICEF New Zealand. DE is a paediatrician and professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at University of Otago. LS is a social scientist and associate professor of Public Health at University of Otago. All authors contributed to design, intellectual content, revisions and endorsed the final version. AJD is the overall guarantor and corresponding author.

• Competing interests None declared.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.