Health is a primary concern among Native Hawaiians. Despite the fact that early foreign accounts record the good health of the native population and the state of Hawai‘i is called the “healthy state,” Native Hawaiians top the statistical data for modern diseases and chronic illness.

Many have written and commented about this situation and in Ola, Malcolm Nāea Chun brings together the writings of early Native Hawaiian scholars and the eyewitness accounts of foreigners and missionaries to develop a historical perspective on this issue. He then uses his experience working in Hawaiian health at the Department of Health and as a translator of Native Hawaiian manuscripts on traditional Hawaiian medicine to examine the topics of diet and religion as they pertain to traditional well being.