Enablers and barriers to dietary change for Māori with nutrition-related conditions in Aotearoa, New Zealand: a scoping review.

Objective: Māori, the Indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand, face a substantial burden of nutrition-related diseases, especially obesity and type 2 diabetes. Weight loss, through dietary change, is a central component of obesity and diabetes prevention and management; however, most approaches have not been designed with or evaluated specifically for Māori. The aim of this study was to review literature on the enablers and barriers to dietary change, for Māori.

Design: Relevant literature published from January 2000 to May 2024 was identified by searches in Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Scopus, Indigenous health (informit), CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science and NZResearch. Studies included Māori and reflected enablers and barriers to dietary change for individuals/whānau (families). Data identifying the aims, methods, interventions, location, population studied and identified enablers and barriers to dietary change and responsiveness to Māori were extracted. Enablers and barriers to dietary change were mapped to a New Zealand indigenous health framework, the Meihana model.

Setting: Settings included studies based in Aotearoa New Zealand, where participants were free living and able to determine their dietary intake.

Participants: Studies included at least 30% Māori participants.

Results: Twenty two of 77 identified records met the inclusion criteria. Records included a diverse range of research approaches.

Conclusions: Using a relevant Indigenous model, this study highlights that multiple and diverse enablers and barriers to dietary change exist for Māori and the critical importance of developing interventions, in close partnership with Indigenous communities, grounded in Indigenous understandings of health.