Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 8, 1 August 1989 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

— — — M— M8— n n— aaa— By Terry Shintani, M.D.

Nurturing Hawaiian health

The Wai'anae Diet Frogram begins in September. It will be the result of Hawaiians working together to promote their own health. Leaders from the homesteads on the Wai'anae coast, eommunity members, and community organizations worked together.

with the community-owned and controlled Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center to create this program. People from other eommunities such as Kauka Emmett Aluli and Helen Kanawaliwali 0'Connor from Moloka'i, and members of other organizations such as Claire Hughes of the School of Public Health and Kauka Kekuni Blaisdell of the University of Hawai'i have contributed time and support. A kick-off luau will take plaee in August to celebrate this program. The luau will feature food on the diet program. While food is a major focus of this program, I emphasize this program touches on all aspects of the person including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It looks at the whole person in his or her environment including social, political, and eeonomie status. Ola Lokahi (whieh I discussed in a prior article) is a guiding principle of this program. That is, all things and all people are eonnected and the whole person is connected in all aspects. Health is not just diet. It includes activity, positive attitude, harmonious relationships with others, and a faith in a power beyond ourselves. History: The Hawaiians were a very healthy people before Western contact. Early visitors in the 1700s and 1800s stated Hawaiians were "the most industrious people I ever saw", and that they were of a "thin rather than full habit." Today, the health of the Hawaiian people is among the worst in the nation, ironically in the healthiest state in the nation. This program will discuss why things have changed so mueh from an historical perspective including political and eeonomie changes that influenced Hawaiian health. Physical: Inherent in this program is a perspective on physical health. Long ago, what killed

Hawaiians was a series of infectious disease epidemics brought by Westeners. With advances in medical care including sanitation, vaccinations and antibiotics, this is no longer major problem. What kills Hawaiians today is a modern epidemic of chronic disease. The primary offender is dietrelated including heart disease, cancer and stroke, the three greatest killers of Hawaiians, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Because of this high level of diet-related death, focus of the program is diet. Exercise is a component of the physical side. Mental Attitude: Perhaps more important than the change in diet is a change in attitude that we foster. The program's emphasis is on positive attitude and positive imagery. It is believed the body follows, to some extent, the images planted in the mind. The ancient Hawaiians knew of this process of planting seeds in the mind to manifest a change in condition. Therefore, images of how healthy Hawaiians used to be will be nurtured. The idea our eeonomie status is related to positive mental attitude will be introduced. Emotional: Mueh of our health is related to our emohonal status, so it cannot be ignored. For example, emohonal stress plays an important part in the functioning of our immune system. Hawaiians' rich tradition of fostering positive emotions should be promoted in health areas. The

spirit of Aloha is one example. Respect for kupunas (elders) as our teachers is an integral part of the program. On a practical level, we also focus on a basic emotional appeal. Because we have good reason to believe that weight loss will naturally occur on this diet, and because weight loss has such a great emotional appeal to so many people, weight loss is one of the focuses of this program. Spiritual: In the spirit of Ola Lokahi, the spiritual aspects of health will be included in the program. In ancient Hawai'i, natural and supernatural phenomena were considered to be all part of nature. There was a reverence for the food as a source of life. There was recognition of mana (life force) in all things including foods and food was the means for taking mana into the body. It is hoped the Wai'anae Diet Program will generate interest in the rest of the Hawaiian eommunity and eventually help restore good health to all Hawaiian people. If you would like more information about the Wai'anae Diet Program and how you ean help with this program, eall me at 696-7081. Dr. Shintani, physician and nutritionist, is director of Preuentiue Health Seruices at the Waianae Coast Comprehensiue Healih Center.