Lay summary
The New Zealand Strategy acknowledges the need to target Maori and Pacific peoples as they have the highest rates of obesity among the different ethnic groups in New Zealand. It states one of the most effective means of reducing disparities is the use of focused ethnic-specific intervention strategies with a population focus. The Seeding Grant application will be used to plan a research study testing a psychological intervention to improve cardiovascular fitness and reduce obesity among Pacific adolescents in South Auckland. The hypothesis of the research proposal is that Pacific children respond best when working in groups to achieve goals. The goal is to collect data (ethnicity, BMI, cardiovascular fitness using the Beep Test) from Year 7 students in the Otara region to formulate reference ranges for the normal distribution of weight, height, BMI and cardiovascular fitness. Once this data is collected then a psychological intervention will be implemented and results analysed to determine if there is a statistically significant improvement in cardiovascular fitness and weight. The Seeding Grant will assist the applicant to develop a full study proposal for the HRC's annual 2011 funding round.