The PATU™ Aotearoa Hinu Wero (Fat Challenge) is a group exercise initiative that promotes physical activity and focuses on fat loss in order to reduce obesity in Māori. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the pilot nine-week Hinu Wero (August–October 2014) involving 66 participants (males n = 26, females n = 40, ages 17–63 years) using a mixed-methods approach. Pre-and post-Hinu Wero anthropometric data revealed whether changes in body fat percentage, body mass index, and weight occurred. Mean reductions in all these measurements were observed. An online focus group with 13 of the participants, and a trainer interview (n = 1, male, 28 years) was undertaken in June 2015 to obtain various perspectives of the Hinu Wero. The online focus group participants were very enthusiastic about the PATU™ Hinu Wero and the results being achieved. It was acknowledged that the Māori practice of whanaungatanga (connectedness, support) was of paramount importance. The PATU™ Hinu Wero functioned as an effective health intervention for reducing obesity in local Māori and working towards reducing health inequities in New Zealand.
There has been a growing interest in giving voice to children in response to the introduction of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and evolving sociological discourses on childhood. Using child-sensitive methodologies such as constructivist grounded theory (CGT) enables children's voices to contribute authentic, meaningful, and eventually more actionable data, capable of informing policies and practices in children's best interests. In this article, we discuss how researchers using CGT can privilege children's voices through effective knowledge coconstruction by creating a child-sensitive research space and using methods that are appropriate to their abilities and interests. We draw on selected data from the first author's (I. S.) PhD project that explores Indian immigrant children's and their family carers' beliefs, practices, and experiences of asthma in New Zealand. We encourage researchers to consider CGT as one of the appropriate methodological choices to explicitly promote the voice of the child.
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