Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2002 — I paʻa ke kino o ke keiki i ka lāʻau That the body of the child be solidly built by the medicines [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

I paʻa ke kino o ke keiki i ka lāʻau That the body of the child be solidly built by the medicines

By CkireHughes, DrPH, RD. Department of Heaīth This 'ōlelo no'eau is a recommendation to mothers to eat herbs (greens) during pregnancy and nursing for the sake of the baby's health. Kawena Pūku'i tells us these herbs were given to the child up to the age of 20, so that the y oungster would be healthy and strong through maturity and old age. Our ancestom undemtood that in order to have a strong Hawaiian nation, proper nutrition was extremely important. Hawaiians also understood what ittooktoha\''e healthy infants, children and young adults. Parents and elders upheld cultural customs and values to assure optimal health in the mother and to achieve optimal health and growth in the next generation. Great care was taken to assure that women ate the right foods, andeven more diligence was taken during pregnancy to assure a healthy infant. In past articles we discussed the great arnphasis Kamehameha the Greatand chiefs like him, placedon feeding his army properly. Fitness was so important that the govern-

mental structure of our ancestors provided a chief counselor or prime minister in charge of affairs related to maka'āinana. If the king's subjects were becoming stout and clumsy, this counselor would urge the king to have the men run races and perform other athletic endeav~ ors to lose weight. If thatwas insuf~ ficient, he would suggest that the men be sent where food was scarce, in order to "reduce their flesh." This counselor also advised the king him.se lf against eating too mueh; he would suggest thatthe king eathard poi or taro instead of soft poi. It was said that taro was best to make one fleet of foot. We seem to be discounting the wisdom of our elders and the responsibilities passed down from generation to generation. The per~ centage of Hawaiians who are very overweight has continued to increase. It is particularly tragic to observe overweight youngsters. Being overweight is a burden, both physically and psychological~ ly. The consequences are difficult to undo. Physically, all of the joints that support the burden of over~ weight are challenged and many give way. Injured knee, ahkle and foot joints are easily detected, i.e.,

fallen arch.es, sore knees and ankles. Poor posture to compensate for the extra weight ean result in back problems. Other less visible,physical challenges result from the greater workload on heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to support the excess weight. Recent science discoveries tell us that obesity may damage the eell DNA, causing eell mutations, perhaps predisposing the obese individual to greater cancer risk. The psychological consequences of being very overweight as a youngster are numerous. Young children tendtotease openly, while teenagers ostracize and quietly taunt. Overall, however, Hawaiians are too tolerant of being overweight, accepting it as fate. The solution is less fatty and highly sweetened foods, more vegetables and fruit, and regular exercise, increasing duration and intensity over time. Instead of eating the greens and herbs that made our ancestors strong and healthy, our children and young people consume fatty foods, snacks and huge sweet drinks. f/Iost of the highly marketed fast foods are over 50 percent fat. An island favorite canned meat product contains 17 0 calories per serving,

140 of the e a 1 o r i e s from fat. K aw ena P ū k u ' i descri.be s the pregnant woman's diet as strictly regu-

lated . R ieh and strongly flavored foods are eliminated during the final stages of the term. Sweetpotato was preferred to poi as being less fattening. Greens, lū'au, sweet potato lea\'es and oth~ ers, were recommended. Ko'olo'olau tea and other herbal medicines were prescribed to nour~ ish the child's body with herbs. During the lastmonth, 'ilima orh.au blossoms were eaten for their mild cathartic action. The responsibility for teaching our children and grandchildren to eat pono falls upon the mākua and kupuna in the family. Keeping the health of our children prominent in our minds and teaching them that "greens" or "herbs" are the best foods to eat, is still a good rule. Science tells us these foods ean protect our bodies from illnesses of the heart, cancer and many, many other physical problems. ■

Oī akīno

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