Ke 'Ano Ola: Moloka'i's community-based healthy lifestyle modification program.

Abstract

We evaluated a community-based 12-week healthy lifestyle program in Moloka'i, HI, called Ke 'Ano Ola, which was developed to decrease chronic disease risk through health education emphasizing weight loss, exercise, and risk factor reduction. Program leaders' strong commitment and positive role modeling, along with social and group support and community involvement, were key elements. A pre-post evaluation of weight, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood sugar showed significant improvements for weight (mean change [Delta] = -7.4 lbs; P < .001), systolic blood pressure (Delta = -3.8 mm Hg; P = .027), diastolic blood pressure (Delta = -4.6 mm Hg; P < .001), and total cholesterol (Delta = -9.7 mg/dL; P < .001). Attrition was low, with 89% of participants attending all 12 sessions. Our findings show that lifestyle improvements in a predominantly Native Hawaiian community are achievable in a support group setting.