When he heard about a recent national report saying Hawaii is second to Colorado with the nation's least fat adults, J. Keawe Kaholokula said, “;We can't let people think we're that well off.”;

The obesity rate for native Hawaiians is 50 percent and it's higher for Samoans, said Kaholokula, associate chairman of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health in the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine.

“;If you put overweight and obesity together, nearly 80 percent of native Hawaiians”; fall into that category, he said in an interview, pointing out they're one of the highest risk groups for diabetes, with Samoans and Filipinos.

“;Hawaii has among the healthiest and least healthiest populations in the United States,”; he said.

Kaholokula is principal investigator for a five-year $2.7 million grant to help native Hawaiians, Samoans, Chuukese and Filipinos lose weight and keep it off.

His department worked with community groups to design a weight-loss program under a three-year planning grant of $1.3 million awarded in 2005 from the National Institutes of Health's Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

The “;PILI 'Ohana Project: Partnerships to Overcome Obesity Disparities in Hawaii”; worked with community people to find the best ways of helping native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders control their weight to reduce health problems.

PILI stands for Partnerships to Improve Lifestyle Interventions, Kaholokula said. “;It is also a Hawaiian word meaning adhere to or come together. In this case, it's joining of community organizations and an academic partnership to address the problem.”;

The partners are Ke Ola Mamo Native Hawaiian Health Care System, Hawaii Maoli of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Kula no Na Po'e Hawaii (serving Hawaiian homestead communities of Papakolea, Kewalo and Kalawahine) and Kokua Kalihi Valley Family Comprehensive Services.

Kaholokula said they designed a three-month weight-loss program with input from community people about what they wanted to see in it.

Diabetes prevention and lifestyle interventions also were incorporated because they have shown that weight loss prevents or delays the onset of diabetes, he said.

About 250 people were enrolled in randomized control trials - three months to lose weight and six months to maintain it, he said. Physical exercise and stress management were emphasized as well as healthy eating.

One group received family and community support to help maintain their weight loss. The other group received encouraging monthly phone calls for six months.

The data is still being analyzed but suggests the program is effective, especially with family and community support provided, “;although phone calls are better than nothing,”; Kaholokula said.

The average weight loss was about 15 pounds in nine months, he said.

Donna Palakiko of Ke Ola Mamo said in a news release it's a positive program that's “;adoptable to any situation and addresses health and well-being on a holistic level, encouraging individuals to make simple changes in their lives over a period of time.”;

Kaholokula said the project worked with participants “;to make changes they wanted to make at the pace they wanted. We tried to match their lifestyle.”;

He said the new program will include more people “;and we're looking at making it more intense, adding more to the weight loss maintenance part.”;