Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 12, 1 December 1998 — I ola nō ke kino i ka māʻona o ka ʻōpū [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

I ola nō ke kino i ka māʻona o ka ʻōpū

By C I a i r e Hughes Dept. of Health As we approach the year 2000. a major challenge for Hawaiians is regaining our health. Most of us are fiercely proud of our Hawaiian ancestry, yet we are slow to accept the wisdom inherent in our heritage. Onee robust, tall and strong, Hawaiians today are of average height, die too early and have illnesses that take mueh pleasure from life. Answers to these problems lie in our heritage. Our Hawaiian ancestors were brave, sailing the oceans over thousands of miles to get here. For hundreds of years they sailed the open seas in comparatively small vessels long before the Europeans, Columbus and Magellan for example, set sail on the world's oceans. They were wise. They knew seasons, oeean currents, celestial navigation and believed in gods who would protect and guide them. Hawaiians were self-auffi-cient, bringing with them many essential herbs, plants and tools. Our ancestors did better than merely survive; they flourished.

Highly industrious and excellent farmers, botanists, healers and parents, they developed eommunities, a culture and family support systems. They built intricate water systems to support the cultivation of taro and other crops end were masters of fishing, agriculture.

and hunting. The federal government recently released for comment a draft document of heakh objectives for the nation, entitled "Healthy People 2010 Objectives".

Regrettably, the government shows no knowledge of Hawaiian health problems. Data on Hawaiians are grouped with the healthier Asian populahon, thus misrepresenting the information. This makes the obvious even more obvious: We must save ourselves and regain our thriving sovereign existence through our own efiforts. Our ancestors demonstrated bravery and wisdom. We must too.

As Hawaiians today, we are challenged on many different fronts. Now we have to learn to use the Hawaiian in us to master survival and to flourish into the next century. In this eolumn over the last two years we have talked about how a simple dietary change

ean make a big difference in our health and the heahh of our children and families. The diet of our ancestors was nearly 80 percent plantbased, consisting mainly of taro, sweet pota-

toes, many greens, limu, ulu and some fruit. Fish was the most important dietary source of protein. Fat consumption was only about 10 percent of the total daily ealories. Foods were steamed (imu), eaten raw or cooked over an open fire, without the use of additional fats (no mayo!). Our kūpuna had the healthy diet "wired." They knew it, practiced it and gained mana from it. Making the types of

changes in eating habits whieh bring us closer to this diet ean prevent and correct many illnesses. While it is better to eat this way from birth, it is never too late to realize great benefit from a lifestyle diet similar to that of our ancestors. Īhe traditional Hawaiian diet reminds us of an important cultural secret - that of maintaining personal halanee and discipline. Relearning the traditional practices and beliefs ean be a rewarding experience. The Five-a-Day campaign urges all Americans to eat five or more servings of vegetables and fruit every day to avoid cancer and other chronic conditions; our ancestors ate far more than that. Heahh and fitness advocates encourage us to be physically active; our ancestors walked and paddled great distances and hard physical work was an everyday occurrence. Over the next few months. we will look at small changes that ean make a big difference. ■

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The body enjoys health when the stomach is well filled. 'Ōlelo No'eau

"Foods were steamed, eaten raw or cooked over an open fire, without the use of additional fats (no mayo!)" — Claire Hughes

Claire Huqhes