UH gets $23 million grant to address health disparities

The University of Hawaii won a $23 million federal grant to help improve the well-being of residents at risk due to serious health disparities.

The five-year grant will fund a specialized center focusing on projects that address genetic, environmental and socio­economic disparities among populations including Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Filipinos.

“Overall, Hawaii ranks as one of the healthiest states in the nation, yet health disparities continue to exist with deadly impact for many populations,” said Dr. Noreen Mokuau, who is leading the grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities along with Jerris Hedges, dean of the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Native Hawaiians are in worse health than most other Americans and more likely to suffer asthma, diabetes and obesity, as well as severe psychological stress, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The population also has higher death rates compared with all other ethnicities in the islands. Mortality rates for heart disease are 68 percent higher than the state average, 34 percent higher for cancer and 130 percent higher for diabetes.

Among the projects that will be funded by the grant is promoting healthy eating among Native Hawaiian families through aquaponics. The program, tucked away in agricultural land in Waimanalo, teaches area residents how to grow their own fish, vegetables and fruits, once staples in old Hawaii. Using aquaponics systems, about 70 Waimanalo families are now growing their own food in their backyards.

The study merges the technology of aquaponics with traditional Hawaiian practices to create a mini ahupuaa system that provides constant access to fresh foods, said Jane Chung-Do, an associate professor at the UH Office of Public Health Studies.

Through community workshops, keiki and kupuna will learn how to build and maintain aquaponics systems, cook nutritious meals and make medicines with their produce. The study aims to identify changes in eating habits, obesity risks, cultural identity, family cohesion and community connectedness, she said.

Another project will focus on preventing suicides among indigenous Hawaiian youth, who have one of the highest risks for death, UH said. That project will conduct youth suicide prevention research that “mitigates health disparities and improves the well-being of indigenous Hawaiian youth and their communities.”