Situation on a Local Level

HISTORY:

The issue of child nutrition hasn't been an important issue until recently.
According to a publication issued by the Hawaii Medical Journal on the “History of Public Health in Hawaii,” the first formal organizational attempt at health in Hawaii was in 1839 when King Kamehameha III created a Board of Health. In early Hawaii, the focus of health was more centered on diseases and viruses like smallpox, influenza, and others, rather than nutrition. In ancient Hawaii, many native Hawaiians, if not all Hawaiians consumed food that they harvested or gathered. Therefore, there was not much education or knowledge regarding nutrition in general, let alone for children. Also according to the Hawaii Medical Journal, the first bureau regarding the field of nutrition was established in 1947 with a two-person staff. Additionally, the thought process behind health and nutrition in the 1900s was that “the educational approach was much better than the “police power” method of getting people to accept and use desirable health practices; although it may take longer, the results would be more permanent” (Hawaii Medical Journal). This method of education is still around today and is a reason for why the issue has become more known; people are starting to become more educated and conscious of health.

One factor contributing to kids not being as healthy as they should be is poverty. According to a 1998 survey report data table by the Hawaii Department of Health, 10.2% of Hawaii’s population was below the poverty level. In the 2005 survey report data table, the percentage of families in Hawaii who were below poverty level was 8.1%, which is a 2.1% decrease in the poverty rate since 1998. Therefore, the government, from 1998 to 2005, took a stricter course of action to cut down on the poverty rates and issue of homelessness in Hawaii, and this is why we saw a decrease in the poverty rate.

Hawaii’s poverty rates are so important to the issue of child nutrition because people who are poverty stricken have a hard time even attaining food. According to a 1999 article from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, "children account for nearly half of the poverty population, with close to 65,000 children living poverty." Usually, the foods that are nutritious are the foods that are the most expensive. Because poor families already have a money shortage, they are most likely to buy the cheap food for their children, which are usually the worst for your health. Additionally, shelters and oranizations that provide homeless and poverty striken families and children with food don't exactly serve the "right" or "healthy" foods, necessary in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

CURRENT SITUATION:
Poor nutrition has led to child obesity problems in Hawaii, reaching alarming proportions. According to a publication from CTAHR, (College of Tropical Agricultural and Human Resources) 19 to 25 out of every 100 children measured were overweight. (1) This is double the national numbers. According to the Hawaii Health Survey (HHS 2005) published by the Hawaii State Department of Health, (DOH) 111,048 people suffer from high blood cholesterol, Hawaiian children being most affected when compared to all other ethnic children groups, 201,984 people in suffer from hypertension, Hawaiian children again most affected, and 74,799 people in Hawaii suffer from diabetes, with Filipino and Hawaiian children being more prone to having this disorder . (2) The two most common types of diabetes are diabetes type I and diabetes type II. Diabetes type I results from the body’s failure to produce insulin. Diabetes type II results from the body’s failure to properly use insulin. The pre-clinical condition to diabetes, insulin resistance can be prevented by exercise and healthy diets. These health problems and disorders are critical to understanding the problem with child health and nutrition in Hawaii. Because Hawaiians and Filipinos are ethnicities in Hawaii that are more likely to get these problems, Hawaiian and Filipino children will also have a hard time maintaining a healthy lifestyle because of genetics. Essentially, through education and public health awareness, diabetes and other nutritional related health problems should be less prevalent with the people of Hawaii.

Many times children in most need of healthy foods and better nutrition come from families of low income. High-fat and high-cholesterol diets (I.e. Fast food) are often the cheapest and easiest foods to prepare and serve resulting in children from low-income families being more prone to developing nutrition related illnesses. According to a Honolulu Advertiser article on homeless children, nearly 14% of Hawaii’s homeless are under the age of 18, which is 4% above the national average. Therefore, many of Hawaii’s homeless are children in desperate need of cheap and convenient food, which often ends up being the most unhealthy options.

WHAT CAN BE DONE:
According to the State of Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance, in 2007, the Department of Health total requirements were written as $889,080,386- Human Resources totaled $22,170,114, and Human Services totaled $1,779,062,078. (3) With so much money going to the wellness of the people of Hawaii, obesity and other health related diseases should not be becoming an epidemic, but should be a more controlled problem. More of the money should be distributed to advertising nutritional awareness in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Public Service Announcements promoting health food stores and healthy food choices should be broadcast on television to compete with the booming media business of McDonalds, Burger King and Jack in the Box. Families that come from lower socio-economic backgrounds need available options for nutrition education so that they can make better decisions about the limited food options they have. Many times, programs are available but the people who need them aren’t aware they exist. Fliers should be put up in wealthy and unfortunate neighborhoods so that Hawaii's entire community will be aware of important issues. By putting notices in wealthy neighborhoods as well, these residents that are more affluent may be inclined and encouraged to help by making donations to these agencies and organizations or even start a program themselves. To get people to pay attention to children nutrition and health in Hawaii, benefits or money incentives should be given to people who attend informational meetings on nutrition or to people who do something about the situation. You can make a difference by writing a letter to your district representative so they can make a public service announcement. By doing your part, children's health and nutrition problems in Hawaii could hopefully make it to the point where they stop becoming an epidemic.

Hawaiian children have the most occurrences of nutrition-related illness when compared to other ethnic children groups in Hawaii. For an individual attempt at healthier lifestyles, Hawaiian families can try in some ways to return to the Native Hawaiian Diet. Substituting poi for rice at meal times seems like an insignificant supplement, but poi is much healthier than rice and can be eaten in larger portions. Daily exercise needs to be encouraged in fun and effective ways to prevent obesity and pre-clinical conditions such as insulin resistance. Schools should increase the physical education requirements and activities kids perform. Parents can also make fun activities for their children, to make sure that they get the minimum requirement of 30 minutes per day of activity or exercise, because many children do not reach this daily activity requirement. If it is affordable, parents and teachers need to be advocating and exhibiting healthier foods as well as making sure children’s diets are meeting daily vitamin and mineral requirements. For more information about daily vitamin and mineral requirements for children, visit: www.keepkidshealthy.com; it is an excellent site about all the nutritional information and requirements children need to be able to live and maintain a healthy life and lifestyle.

HAWAII PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:
There are programs designed for maintaining healthy life-styles for the children of Hawaii run through grants, departments, volunteer groups, and agencies, some of them listed below. Please explore them; with these sites, people can volunteer/donate their time, money, and help to Hawaii's children in need:

State Agency-
The Department of Education Office of Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs (State Agency) holds the agreement with the USDA and is responsible for the administration and monitoring of all Child Nutrition programs in Hawaii. These programs include, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Special Milk Program (SMP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and Team Nutrition. These programs are run on a national level, so see the nationally run programs for more information.

DOH-
The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) provides information on state-funded health and rehabilitation services. Its mission statement is to promote sound, lifelong nutrition and physical activity behaviors that will reduce the prevalence of preventable chronic diseases and improve overall health among all ethnic groups in Hawaii. Programs and other educational services can be explored at the DOH website: http://www.hawaii.gov/health/

Papa Ola Lokahi-
Papa Ola Lokahi, a nonprofit organization, funded through federal and state grants and contracts focuses on public health issues relating to Native Hawaiian, Native American and Alaskan Native populations living in Hawaii. Among other things, POL encourages these indigenous groups to return to traditional lifestyles and diets and to abandon high-fat, high cholesterol, processed foods, which dominate the marketplace.

IHS-
IHS Homeless Support Programs provide housing transition and support services for women, men, children and families. By first finding homes for the homeless, nutritional education can then become more relevant and a more realistic priority.
http://www.ihshawaii.org/

Hawaii Food Bank-
The Hawaii Food Bank focuses on getting food to those who need it. It is not necessarily comprised of the healthiest foods, but it is a step towards it.
http://www.hawaiifoodbank.org

YOU CAN HELP!!! WE"RE ALL WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE. SO WE'VE STARTED TO HELP THE WORLD TO CHANGE. PLEASE JOIN US AND THE PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS LISTED ABOVE TO HELP HAWAII'S KEIKI LIVE BETTER LIVES BY MAINTAINING HEALTHY AND NUTRITIOUS LIFESTYLES AND HABITS. WE NEED TO HELP OUR KEIKI. YOU WOULD WANT YOUR KIDS TO BE HEALTHY, SO HELP OUR CHILDREN! SPREAD THE ALOHA, THAT IS WHAT HAWAII IS ALL ABOUT...

"Feeding the Hungry"





Footnotes-
(1) http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/new/HCCNP/
(2)For more statistics investigated through the HHS, visit: http://www.hawaii.gov/health/statistics/hhs/hhs_05/index.html
(3)For more information about Hawaii government spending, visit http://www.hawaii.gov/budget/memos/budget%20in%20brief/