WAIKAPU - The host of "Ask the Doctor" on KHON television will keynote the annual meeting Monday of the Nutrition & Physical Activity Coalition of Maui County.
Dr. Kalani Brady will speak on "The Health and Culture of Native Hawaiians Past and Present" at the event from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Maui Tropical Plantation. A buffet lunch is free, courtesy of the Tobacco Settlement Special Fund, Healthy Hawai'i Initiative and state Department of Health.
Work-site wellness is a Native Hawaiian concept, Brady said recently. He noted that the lokahi (harmony) triangle of Hawaiian beliefs includes ke Akua, ke kanaka and ka 'aina - God, humanity, and land, which he called the "source of sustenance and life."
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DR. KALANI BRADY
Host of “Ask the Doctor” on KHON TV
"Wellness in all aspects of a Hawaiian's life leads to being pono (correct), and that means spiritual wellness, psychological wellness as well as physical wellness," said Brady, who serves as associate professor in the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawaii medical school.
"And as Hawaiians - as much as, or more than, in other cultures - shepherding our body is part of the responsibility, or kuleana, we have for living a pono life," he said.
Brady graduated from St. Louis High School in Honolulu and from Harvard University in engineering and applied physics. He earned a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. The recipient of numerous awards, he was named 2007 Physician of the Year by the Hawaii Medical Association.
He said tips for work-site wellness are to find exercise one enjoys - walking, swimming, Jazzercise, Zumba, even stretching at one's desk; choose color in one's diet, as in fruits and vegetables; and get adequate sleep.
The "Ask the Doctor" TV personage is alert to the value of snoozing: "Sleep is underrated. When we don't get enough, we create hormones that basically subject our bodies to chronic stress; so sleep is essential in adequate amounts to keep a pono lifestyle."
Others appearing at Monday's event include Mayor Alan Arakawa to welcome guests; Maya Soetoro-Ng, half sister of President Barack Obama, to be seen in a video greeting; and kumu hula Kapono'ai Molitau, to discuss a new Nutrition & Physical Activity Coalition outreach program for Native Hawaiians.
Also, during the "Three Minutes of Fame" segment, attendees may promote their programs or organizations.
Reserve a spot at the event by calling Sandy McGuinness, the coalition's county coordinator, at 264-7895 or via e-mail at sandramaui@aol.com. Although the event is free, donations are welcome to the UH Foundation, McGuinness said.
* Kekoa Enomoto can be reached at kekoa@mauinews.com.
