Prioritizing nutrition security and growing a diverse agricultural workforce are two goals of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
In 2010, the Pacific Islands Health Officers Association declared a regional state of health emergency due to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. This declaration led to eight Land-grant Colleges and Universities across the region joining forces to prevent childhood obesity and promote better health.
That’s how the Children’s Healthy Living (CHL) project came to life, led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa. With funding from NIFA’s Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, the Children’s Healthy Living Center of Excellence (CHL Center) was born. The Center reaches an underserved rural population that is among the highest risk in the world for obesity. The region includes Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Kosrae State, Yap State, Pohnpei State, Chuuk State), the Republics of the Marshall Islands and Palau.
The CHL team recognized combating childhood obesity would require enhancing the region’s professional capacity through training and education.
CHL Director Dr. Rachel Novotny said the sheer size of the region presented challenges in addressing that workforce development need.
“Our partners are all across the Pacific,” said Novotny, who is also a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “The region spans seven time zones, and our closest partner is a more than six-hour plane ride.’
CHL has worked alongside more than 100 community partners across the Pacific Region.
“The program was designed to be interpreted locally,” Novotny said. “That built momentum and helped to begin to address the need for trained professionals. As we selected trainees, we showed our intent to develop people across the region.”
CHL Assistant Director Dr. Ashley Yamanaka agreed that the importance of the training being available locally cannot be underestimated.
“It’s important to be able to keep talented individuals in their home communities, and CHL is making that possible,” Yamanaka said. “Local training increases the likelihood of individuals staying in the area. The program equips trainees to take on leadership roles and drive initiatives within their communities.”
CHL is delivering on its mission to increase the number of professionals in the Pacific region who are trained to address childhood obesity. Over the lifetime of CHL, about 100 new professionals have been trained.
Training the Next Generation
- Associate’s degree: 8
- Bachelor’s degree: 19
- Master's degree: 12
- Doctorate degree: 13
- Postdoctoral Fellows: 2
- Trained Leaders: 54
“The number of CHL trainees is impressive, and it’s only the foundation,” said Mallory M. Koenings, NIFA national program leader. “The impact of CHL trainees is beyond the numbers. Individual trainees have inspired and trained additional students, professionals and leaders in their communities.”
“Participants are more than trainees,” Novotny said. “They are asked to be part of the research CHL is conducting and to help interpret data.”
Participants also designed and conducted a CHL project that supported childhood obesity prevention in their home jurisdiction. For graduate students, CHL projects served as the students’ theses/dissertations. For undergraduate students, depending on the degree program, the CHL project was integrated within an applied learning experience.
Dr. Aifili Tufa earned his doctorate in epidemiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He calls his participation in the CHL program “transformative.”
“My completed Ph.D. and defended dissertation have provided me with the confidence to excel in my positions with the American Samoa Department of Health and make a positive impact on the health and well-being of the American Samoa community,” Tufa said.
“CHL community leaders will be promoting nutrition and health, preventing diet-related diseases and disparities and having a lasting positive impact on the next generation,” Koenings said.