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A symposium is being held in Rotorua to address the high rates of childhood obesity especially among indigenous people.
A contingent of leading international professors in the field of obesity will be hosted by Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa to address the growing number of overweight children.
The aim of the symposium is to strengthen partnerships and share research in indigenous health.
The group hailing from the top universities and hospitals in the United States will be meeting in Rotorua tomorrow.
It is a reciprocal visit following Dr Ihirangi Heke and Te Papa Takaro chief executive officer visiting their research centres and conferences in their home countries.
Chief executive of Te Papa Takaro, Paora Te Hurihanganui said they had met these experts previously and again last year to see what support and ideas there were and how that aligned with Maori thinking.
"The visit I went on last year was the second visit to reconnect again and visit some of the progress," he said.
"On that last visit, we invited them to come and have a look and we invited them as a collective and bring some of their indigenous researchers as well."
The visiting professors will get a hands on view of Maori culture.
"We're taking an opportunity to present some of our ideas and they will stay on the marae and show them some cultural stuff as well as some of the systems we use at Te Papa Takaro to engage with Maori," Mr Hurihanganui said.
He said they hoped to have an open session at Ihenga, Toi Ohomai and invited those in the health sector who would like to hear them speak.
"To get these five offshore professors and two New Zealand ones who are pretty high up - you'll never get there anywhere else," he said.
"We really want to get some of their offshore thinking on global obesity and indigenous obesity and we want to showcase our potential. We see this not just for Papa Takaro but for our kids."
Te Papa Takaro has moved back to ancestral profiling, profiling ancestors and bringing it down to the particular individual or group so they realise their potential within that space as well.
"Ancestral information is accepted in the sector and we can start sharing our knowledge and information in a more appropriate way rather than us being researched on. We are active participants in research and we're actually leading that research."
Visit www.arawanation.com/symposium to register to attend the event
Where - Tangatarua Marae
When - 9am tomorrow
What - Indigenous Health Symposium
Cost - Free
Who will be speaking
Dr Ross Hammond, Brookings Institution, Washington DC
Prof Rachel Novotny, University of Hawaii
Elise Dela Cruz-Talbert, University of Hawaii
Paul Eme, University of Nigeria
Prof Alex Adams, Montana State University
Prof Boyd Swinburn, University of Auckland
Dr David Rees, Synergia Ltd, Auckland and Sydney
Dr Ihirangi Heke, Integrated Hauora Initiatives Ltd, Tomarata