CHL doctoral trainees Kristi Hammond and Christina Young, along with CHL Assistant Director Ashley Yamanaka, and CHL Data Manager Rica Dela Cruz attended the 2025 International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) annual conference held in Aotearoa (New Zealand). This year’s theme, Manaaki taiao, manaaki tāngata, manaaki meake nei (Take care of the environment, take care of the people, take care of the future), highlighted the importance of supporting physical activity and nutrition behaviors in both indigenous and non-indigenous communities worldwide. The conference honored Māori culture and language throughout the program, which featured presentations centered on community-based work with Māori populations and inspiring keynote speakers including Dr. Ihi Heke, Dr. Jim Sallis, Dr. Terryanne Clark, and Dr. Melody Ding.
Kristi presented her preliminary research on child dietary intake according to the degree of food processing across the US-Affiliated Pacific Region. Christina shared findings on the eating environments of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino infants aged 3–12 months. Ashley presented on diet quality and physical activity in relation to screen time guideline adherence among children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region. Rica presented on the influence of diet quality and physical activity on childhood overweight and obesity in the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as perceived facilitators and barriers to these health behaviors in the islands.
Notably, a CHL collaborator Dr. Dot Dumuid from University of South Australia delivered an oral presentation using CHL data titled “A Novel Interactive Interface for Translation of Complex, Interdependent Relationships of Diet, Physical Activity and Sleep Behaviours with Health Outcomes.”
Full abstracts can be found in the 2025 ISBNPA Conference Abstract Booklet.