Sela Panapasa says that, although Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are the second fastest growing minority population in the U.S., they have been underrepresented in national surveys on health and health behavior. Her work looks at Tongans and Samoans, two PI subgroups, living in California. She finds health disparities between these populations and other Californians as well as other Americans, notably in smoking and obesity rates. Panapasa says this work will help “chart a course to develop interventions that will help to reduce these health disparities and build healthy communities.”

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