Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 3, 1 March 1992 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

(This eolumn is open to all OHA Trustees as a vehicle for them to express their By Terry Shintani, M.D. mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the individual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)

Waianae Diet phase III and Kaua'i Diet begin

The next phase of the Waianae Diet Program will take plaee beginning on March 2, thanks to your contributions through the purchase of the Waianae Diet books, cups and Tshirts. This phase of the program could

not have occurred without your help. Currently we have sold over 6,300 copies of the Waianae Diet Manual (produced through the assistance of the James and Abigail Campbell Foundation), and we are printing more. The proceeds of these sales are funding the eonhnuation of the Waianae Diet Program and this third phase of the project. 1 hope all of you who have purchased books will take pride in helping to promote the health of the Hawaiian p>eople. We will be conducting the program in tandem with the newly formed Kaua'i Native Hawaiian Diet Program whieh was formed relying on their own program resources. One of the great messages that we would like to demonstrate this time is the concept of "lokahi" or "oneness" among Hawaiian peo-

ple. We would like to see this as a symbol of Hawaiians helping eaeh other across the oeean on other islands and everywhere in the world. The KNHDP will start on March 1, and the Waianae Diet Program will start on March 2. Both will run for 21 days. On Kaua'i, Art Tani, health educator of the Department of Health, is spearheading the effort. He brought his group over last year in September to leam about the Waianae Diet Program, and we flew over to Kaua'i to do a presentation to generate interest and support. We assisted him in developing the program and shared with the Kaua'i group information about the Waianae Diet Program. Dr. Wayne Fukino will be providing medical supervision. The program is called the "Kaua'i Native Hawaiian Diet Program." As in the Waianae Diet Program a great deal of community networking has taken plaee. Other people involved in the project include Mohala Aiu, executive director of Ho'ola Lahui Hawai'i, Rhoda Golden RN of Kaua'i Veteran's Memorial Hospital, Pua Kaliko, health education aide, Aletha Kaohi of Ho'ola Lahui, Gini Kapali, Office of Elderly Affairs, Evelyn 01ores, Parks and Recreation, Pat Pablo, public health nurse, Dr. Keith Horiqouchi, administrator KVMH, Ninal Kumar, WIC nutritionist, Grace

Kamai, LaFrance Kapaka, taro farmer, and Moki Niheu-Young. In Waianae, we will be conducting another 21 day program with 20 Hawaiians and three non-Hawaiians. This time, we were demonstrating how effective this program ean be in terms of changing attitudes, diet and lifestyle habits of our participants in the long run. We are also demonstrating, in part, that the diet works with other ethnic groups as well. We have taken into the program those who reside on the Waianae Coast, particularly those who demonstrated motivation and dedication to the entire program. The fact that the Waianae Diet Program is supported by your contributions and the running of these two projects demonstrate the "connectedness" of all Hawaiian people. We hope that such mutual support grows and that we ultimately influence the health of all Hawaiian people around the world. (Dr. Terry Shintani, physician and nutritionist, is director of Preuentive Medicine at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. A majority of the center's board and 18,000 clients are of Natiue Hawaiian ancestrp.)