Te Reo Māori resource will grow health understanding

Maori Affairs Minister and Associate Minister of Education, the Hon. Dr Pita Sharples is to receive copies of a new resource designed to support science education and build health literacy in Māori immersion schools. The presentation will take place at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Raki Paewhenua, Rosedale, Auckland on Thursday 04 July, beginning at 1pm.

Ko Au, Ko Au Anō, Ko Tōku Taiao: Te Kai is a Māori language translation of a teaching module Me, Myself, My Environment: Nutrition which has been developed and tested within the LENScience programme based at The University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute. They form part of the suite of resources being developed as the Healthy Start to Life Education for Adolescents Programme (HSLeaP) in association with schools and Centre of Research Excellence, Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development.

Research at the Institute has shown that obesity-linked non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases prevalent in the community have their beginnings early in life; during pregnancy and early childhood. Evidence emerging overseas and data from the HSLeaP pilot studies suggest that adolescence is a time when targeted education programmes can empower young people to make sustained life-style changes that will benefit themselves and their future children.

The modules are linked to the school curriculum. They are designed to help students explore relationships between nutrition and lifestyle and how these relate to development of NCDs. The resources draw on local health data and research by New Zealand and international scientists. They provide both a locally relevant context to support science education and a useful intervention aimed at reducing NCD risk in future generations.

“The rationale for this approach is that up-stream interventions supporting the development of healthy lifestyle and nutritional behaviours during adolescence offer opportunities to support reduced NCD risk for adolescents and their future offspring,” says LENScience Director Jacquie Bay, who will present the books to Dr Sharples.

“This does not eliminate the need for preventative actions in adulthood, nor actions to support the care of adults affected by NCDs. Rather, this supports the view that unless we invest in the potential offered by intergenerational risk reduction strategies, the impact of NCDs on health and the social and economic wellbeing of our communities will continue to grow exponentially.”

Introduction of the HSLeaP was trialled in 24 classes across nine Auckland schools. “We discovered that the programmes support engagement, particularly in low-decile communities, and those students demonstrated the use of scientific knowledge and understanding in health-related decision making through to 12-months after they had participated in the programmes,” says Ms Bay, adding that many of the children also became agents of sustained positive health change within their families.

Ko Au, Ko Au Anō, Ko Tōku Taiao: Te Kai is the first of the HSLeaP modules made available in Te Reo Māori, enabling Kura communities to access these valuable learning tools. This has been achieved through a partnership between LENScience and Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Raki Paewhenua. At the event, Ms Bay will also present the Minister with the next learning module for translation Diabetes: An issue in my community, a resource for Year 11 students, which is accompanied by a NZQA moderated assessment task.

Visit LENScience website 

Visit Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development website