enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peoples6.3 Using tikanga to encourage physical activity inMāoriCraig Heta, Leonie Matoe and Christina McKercharSummaryFollowing Māori specific workshops held by ENHANCE research team and discussionswith leaders in Māori public health, it was decided that the inclusion of Tīkanga would aidthe provision of culturally appropriate physical activity programmes for Māori. Definingtīkanga is a difficult task as definitions are varied and have changed over time however itwould appear from the literature that tīkanga is not a set of rigid rules, but a set of valuesthat should govern the most appropriate way to act in a given situation.As Tīkanga operates from a Māori world view and incorporates many other aspects ofwellbeing there is consensus that policies and interventions aimed at Māori be based onTīkanga Māori. Traditional activities e.g Mau Taiaha have their own tīkanga, howevermodern activities e.g touch rugby, netball can apply tīkanga to suit the situation e.g useof karakia and haka in game preparation. In essence, there needs to be a strongunderstanding of how to put tīkanga into practice.Korikori a Iwi was a community development action project that used Māori culture as abasis for encouraging good nutrition and regular physical exercise in five Māoricommunities. Tāia Te Kawa is an educational programme that is being developed at TeWānanga-o-Raukawa and draws on two key aspects utilising Māori health perspectivesto endorse health and wellbeing as integral to everyday living; and highlighting Māoricultural components as vehicles for health promotion. The underlying emphasis of theinitiative is on successful and regular engagement in health and fitness programmes.This is an important area that requires research and support to confirm if, and how,Tīkanga can improve adherence to modern and traditional forms of physical activity.It is recommended that:• Funding is made available for traditional and modern forms of physical activityprogrammes that use tikanga and that these programmes are evaluated in orderto build an evidence base.• Funding is allocated to research into the use of tikanga in physical activityprogrammes and how this may improve adherence to traditional and model formsof physical activity.• Funding is provided for training of the Māori physical activity workforce on tikangaand its application within activity programmes. This is likely to requirepartnership with tertiary providers to develop training capacity.• A review is undertaken of tikanga use within mainstream physical activityprogrammes to ensure tikanga is delivered appropriately. Investigate ways forMāori to lead development of such programmes.182