Difficulties In Dealing With Obesity For Maori In Aotearoa

This study focuses on the difficulties in dealing with obesity for Maori in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The study will apply the Kaupapa Maori Research model and aims to provide recommendations to address the root cause of health issues among Maori people.

Running head: Difficulties In Dealing With Obesity For Maori In Aotearoa 1
Difficulties In Dealing With Obesity For Maori In Aotearoa
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Difficulties In Dealing With Obesity For Maori In Aotearoa 2
My proposed study topic is the difficulties in dealing with obesity for Maori in Aotearoa.
This planned research is much relevant for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand with regard to
their health. Studies show that the life expectancy of Maori people in 2011 was
approximately 73 and 77 years for males and females respectively, whereas, the non-Maori
people was estimated at 79 and 84 years for males and females respectively (Ministry of
Health, 2013). The Maori people have shorter lives than non-Maori in addition to substandard
health. The primary cause of the disparity in health of the Maori and non-Maori people are
diabetes and vascular diseases, which significantly contributes to their poor health compared
to the non-Maori (Tobias & Turley, 2013). Obesity is the major cause of these disorders
among other lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure and abridged lifespan (Wang et al.,
2011). Therefore, this study will be of much benefit to the Māori in Aotearoa, New Zealand
because it will deal with the central issue of health from the root cause. The challenges
encountered in addressing obesity will be ascertained and recommendations made.
The study intends to apply the Kaupapa Maori Research model. This approach is described as
a research by Maori, for Maori and with Maori (Eketone, 2008). The epistemology of the
model impacts the whole survey from the formulation of the study topic, data collection to
the analysis, and the response to the respondents and the society at large. It is a means of
comprehending and describing how we know what we know and it upholds Maori’s right to
be Maori. The entirety of this Maori-centred approach also leads to the provision of Maori
knowledge. Chilisa (2011) observes that the model uses both Maori and non-Maori
techniques and modern research and analytical methods like explanatory phenomenological
analysis.
The study will apply the Maori protocol in the entire study from the formulation of the study
topic, data collection, data analysis and the provision of the findings and recommendations.

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At the commencement of the survey, informed consent will be obtained from the potential
participants by making the request without undue inducement or any aspect of force or fraud.
Adequate information that is necessary for them to make a cognizant choice whether to be
part of the research or not will as well be provided in the language they understand best. The
anonymity of the respondents will be maintained by excluding the names of the participants
from the entire research process and instead of giving them codes to represent the
respondents. Confidentiality of the participants will also be guaranteed by using the collected
data only for the purposes initially mentioned at the onset of the study. The collected raw data
will be secured by storing them in sealed plastic boxes and after entry into the database, the
hardcopy will be destroyed and the soft copy secured by passwords only know to relevant
personnel.

Difficulties In Dealing With Obesity For Maori In Aotearoa 4
References
Chilisa, B. (2011). Indigenous research methodologies. Sage Publications.
Eketone, A. (2008). Theoretical underpinnings of Kaupapa Maori directed practice. Mai
Review.
Ministry of Health. (2013). New Zealand Health Survey: Annual Update of Key Findings
2012/13.
Tobias, M., & Turley, M. (2013). Health Loss in New Zealand: A Report from the New
Zealand Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study, 2006-2016. Ministry of
Health.
Wang, Y. C., McPherson, K., Marsh, T., Gortmaker, S. L., & Brown, M. (2011). Health and
economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK. The
Lancet, 378(9793), 815-825.