Abstract

This workshop will explore the challenge of ending the Pacific noncommunicable diseases (NCD) crisis. Professor Signal will present compelling new data from Tonga and New Zealand (NZ). The obesogenic world of children will be revealed using data from cameras worn by a random sample of 36 Tongan and 168 NZ children. These findings set the scene for a discussion about solutions to the crisis at local, regional and global levels.

Speaker profile

Professor Louise Signal is a Director of the Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit at the University of Otago, Wellington, NZ.

She is a social scientist who has worked in public health for over 30 years. She is the out-going Regional Director of the South West Pacific Region of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). Louise’s research focuses on identifying and addressing the determinants of health and health inequities. Her key areas of interest include obesity prevention, addressing harm from alcohol and gambling and tackling inequities in cancer treatment.

Louise is the principal investigator of an innovative research project that studies the world children live in, Kids’Cam. It uses automated cameras to record children’s worlds in NZ. Currently, there are 17 projects underway or completed. Louise is currently leading similar research in Tonga in collaboration with Dr Viliami Puloka and the Tongan Government.