NHPI have a higher percentage of obese adults in comparison to other racial groups (Lasseter et al., 2015). This may be due to risky behaviors, lack of physical activity, and lack of vegetable and fruit intake (Moy et al., 2010). The goal of this capstone was to develop a culturally-tailored nutrition curriculum based on qualitative feedback from NHPI key informants and focus group participants. This qualitative study was guided by a logic model, primarily adopted from the Pili 'Ohana Project, which used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to collect data through community informant interviews, focus groups, and a survey (Kaholokula et al., n.d.). Using a similar approach, this capstone used data from two key informant interviews and two focus group interviews to inform the type of materials developed and receive feedback. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data and three themes emerged from the interviews: (1) lifestyle change, (2) helping others, and (3) barriers to healthy eating. These findings demonstrate the need to develop more public health programs targeting NHPI in San Diego County. It is important to focus more public health efforts on addressing health disparities in this rapidly growing population.

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) suffer from disproportionate rates of obesity and other related chronic diseases. Pacific Islander Community Health (PIC Health) is a project in San Diego County that is actively investigating how to improve the health of NHPI, using a mixed methods Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach. This project provided a culturally tailored nutrition curriculum for 12 weeks to participants of the PIC Health program, followed by investigating how this influenced their eating behaviors. After the analysis of the focus group, three main themes were determined to inform future work. These themes were: (1) Intervention Strategies for NHPI Health (2) Impact of Curriculum and (3) Cultural Relevance. The survey data revealed a significant difference from week 0 to week 12 for both fruit consumption per month and vegetable consumption per month (p

Global organizations, such as the World Health Organization, have identified obesity and obesity-related comorbidities as a significant public health issue that exacerbates health disparities in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). An overall consensus in research over the last decade is that nutrition, physical activity, and environmental factors contribute to obesity and obesity-related comorbidities such as diabetes. The objective of this review was to better understand factors that impact obesity and nutrition among NHPI by examining the most current disaggregated literature. The literature review was conducted with the inclusion of eleven articles, of which four themes were extrapolated: acculturation, eating habits, environmental factors, and genetics. Results from the literature review can help guide effective and culturally sensitive interventions, programs, and policies to combat the obesity epidemic in NHPI.

In 1778 Captain James Cook made his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands. The members of his expedition and subsequent visitors brought to the previously isolated Hawaiian people new things, novel ideas, and, of greatest consequence, devastating alien germs. The infectious diseases introduced since 1778 have claimed more Hawaiian lives than all other causes of death combined. During their long isolation in space and time, Hawaiians had not been exposed to the many microbes that afflicted populations in other parts of the world. They had developed no immunity to those germs and gained no experiences to enable them to endure the sicknesses the newly introduced germs caused. That terrible vulnerability to foreigners' diseases has almost destroyed Hawaiian society and culture. The nine essays in this collection discuss the impact of these "gifts of civilization" upon the native Hawaiian people and upon the social history of Hawai‘i. Dr. Bushnell constructs a concise historical framework, including an examination of the native medical profession, and interprets the few facts known about it in light of present knowledge in the medical sciences. He presents information, opinions, and conclusions harvested from many years of thinking about the fate of native Hawaiian people, studying all the relevant documents, and writing about this and related subjects.