Ngā Māuiui Kai: creating Indigenous Māori terms for eating disorders in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Background

Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) report higher rates of eating disorders than non-Māori, but access treatment at lower rates. Diagnostic terms lacking in cultural relevance likely contribute to Māori exclusion in eating disorder spaces. Developing terms in te reo Māori (the Māori language) presents an opportunity to challenge eating disorder stereotypes and increase cultural safety in the eating disorder workforce.

Methodology

Guided by a Māori worldview and the practice of wānanga (to meet, discuss, and think deeply about a topic), we present a Māori language glossary for eating disorders. The glossary is informed by expertise in te reo Māori, mātauranga Māori (the body of Māori knowledge), and eating disorders, and combines terms already in use with newly developed terms.

Results

We propose an umbrella term for eating disorders (ngā māuiui kai), as well as terms for anorexia nervosa (māuiui whakatiki), bulimia nervosa (pukuruaki), binge eating disorder (māuiui kaihoro), and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (karo kai, with three subtypes of low interest [arokore kai], sensory-based avoidance [āmaimai rongo kai], and concern about the consequences of eating [wehi-ā-kai]). We also propose terms for related concepts of body image difficulties (māuiui whakawā ata), perfectionism (māuiui kōtihitihi) and emotion dysregulation (kare-a-roto kōtitititi).

Conclusion

This glossary is available for use by anyone looking for terms that come from a mana-enhancing (empowering, respectful, and strengths-based) Māori worldview. The kupu (words, terms) in this glossary are offered as possibilities for use, rather than as definitive or correct, in the hopes they will promote discussion about stigma, indigeneity, and language in the eating disorders field.

Plain language summary

Māori are more likely to report eating disorders than non-Māori, but are less likely to seek treatment. One possible reason is that words used to describe eating disorders do not resonate with Māori cultural understandings and experiences. To address this, we have developed a glossary of terms in te reo Māori for eating disorders. We aim to make the language around eating disorders more relevant and respectful to Indigenous people in Aotearoa, encouraging more people to seek help. The glossary includes an umbrella term for eating disorders (ngā māuiui kai) and specific terms for conditions like anorexia nervosa (māuiui whakatiki), bulimia nervosa (pukuruaki), binge eating disorder (māuiui kaihoro), and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (karo kai), among others. These new terms were created by combining knowledge of te reo Māori with knowledge of eating disorders. The goal of this glossary is to reduce stigma and promote understanding by using culturally meaningful language. The researchers hope it will spark further conversation about the importance of language in healthcare and support for Māori with eating disorders.

Ko tōku reo tōku ohooho, ko tōku reo tōku mapihi mauria.

My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul

This whakatauakī (proverb) from Sir Tīmoti Kāretu speaks to the centrality of language for Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand; hereafter, referred to as Aotearoa). As eating disorder researchers, clinicians, and experts-by-experience with Māori whakapapa (genealogy), and who work with Māori, we question the language of ‘disorder’ central to classification systems like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Here, we outline the process of developing a Māori language glossary for eating disorders, for use by our rōpū (group) Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai (the Māori Eating Disorders and Eating Issues Network). We share this glossary to prompt thinking and discussion about stigma, indigeneity, and language in the eating disorders field. We also offer these kupu (words, terms) for use by anyone looking for language conducive to a mana-enhancing (empowering, respectful, and strengths-based) Māori worldview. Here, te reo Māori words are defined at first mention, and a glossary of te reo Māori words is found in the appendix. Translations are our own, with reference to Te Aka: Māori Dictionary [27].

Background

Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai is a national network of Māori with an interest in eating disorders (including clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience and their whānau [family or extended family]), with support from non-Māori allies. Our formation was supported by Whāraurau, a government-funded organisation that delivers workforce development initiatives for the Infant, Child & Adolescent Mental Health and/or Alcohol and Other Drugs sector in Aotearoa. As part of this mahi (work) Whāraurau supports the mental health workforce to expand their knowledge of disordered eating and eating disorders. In 2022 the Eating Disorders External Advisory Group guiding this mahi highlighted significant unmet needs for Māori experiencing disordered eating or eating disorders, and Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai was established to address this need. The authors of this paper represent a subset of our membership. We have been meeting and working together since September 2022 with an overarching goal to improve the experiences of, and outcomes for, Māori experiencing disordered eating or eating disorders.

Soon after our rōpū (group) formed, we began discussing the Māori terms for eating disorders we might use in our work together. At the time, we were aware of several Māori terms for ‘eating disorders’ (e.g., matekai, tangata kōmuramura), ‘anorexia nervosa’ (e.g., kaitimotimo, māuiui whakatiki), ‘bulimia nervosa’ (e.g., pukuruaki, ruakitanga, mate whakaruaki), and ‘binge eating disorder’ (e.g., kaiapo, kai inati), but were unsure which terms we wanted to use, or where some of these terms had originated. Our pātai (questions) sent us in search of te reo Māori interpreters who might be able to help, and we were fortunate to meet and collaborate with author and educator Keri Opai. Keri is known in the mental health, addictions, and disability sector in Aotearoa for creating Te Reo Hāpai (The Language of Enrichment; [29]), a Māori language glossary for the mental health, addiction, and disability sectors. Te Reo Hāpai was based on the whakataukītanga kōrero (Māori proverb or proverbial saying) “He mana tō te kupu”, meaning “words have great power”. Te Reo Hāpai glossary was developed to increase engagement between whānau Māori and health services, to promote te reo Māori, and to translate words “that might carry stigma and discrimination into words that recognise humanity, hope and personal dignity” (Durie, quoted in [29], p. 3). Keri is credited with creating the now world famous kupu ‘takiwātanga’, an interpretation of ‘autism spectrum disorder’, which means "in their own time and space" [29] (p. 14).

Māori experiences of eating disorders

There is a dearth of knowledge and research regarding Māori experiences of eating disorders. Te Rau Hinengaro (The New Zealand Mental Health Survey) reports that Māori experience eating disorders at higher rates than non-Māori (3.1% for Māori versus 1.7% for non-Māori), with Māori reporting comparable rates of anorexia nervosa to non-Māori, but higher rates of non-underweight eating disorders [1, 28]. However, national Ministry of Health data show Māori access treatment at disproportionately low rates; only 7% of people in Aotearoa with a diagnosed eating disorder who accessed specialist mental health services between 2009 and 2016 were Māori, although Māori made up 16.5% of the population [21]. These data indicate that Māori are underserved by eating disorder services in Aotearoa. Moreover, a lack of research on eating disorders among Māori means the available data likely underestimate the scope of the problem [7].

The small body of available research indicates the eating disorder treatment gap among Māori is explained by factors at all stages of engagement with the health system. Eating disorders seem to be under identified among Māori in part due to stereotypes about who is impacted by eating disorders [5, 22], and by a focus on obesity as an eating-related health problem (see, for example, [17]). Although the prevalence of binge eating disorder among Māori is unknown, Māori may be at increased risk [17] due to the poverty, food insecurity, and traumatic events that followed colonisation [2, 10, 15]. When Māori are referred to eating disorder services, they can encounter long waiting times for assessment as specialist services often use indicators such as low body weight, rapid weight loss, and medical instability to decide treatment priority [39],all of which are most likely to be present in cases of anorexia nervosa [41]. Finally, widespread use of treatments developed outside Aotearoa and a lack of cultural confidence and competence among clinicians are barriers to the provision of culturally responsive care [31].

Clark et al.'s [5, 6] research describes the diverse experiences and needs of Māori with eating disorders and highlights multiple barriers to assessment and treatment. Māori with eating disorders report exclusion from eating disorder spaces because of stereotypes about what eating disorders look like and who they impact [5]. As well as grappling with systemic racism and a lack of culturally safe care, Māori seeking support around eating must contend with the stigma unique to eating disorders [5]. Past research suggests that stigmatising attitudes are reported as significantly higher towards people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa when compared to those of other mental health difficulties like depression [34], are found among the general public and among individuals with eating disorders themselves [16], and are associated with higher levels and longer duration of eating disorder pathology as well as difficulties disclosing and help-seeking [8, 16]. These stigmatising attitudes include attributions of personal responsibility towards people with eating disorders, and beliefs that people with eating disorders are fragile and attention-seeking (see [9, 32] for reviews).

The inequities Māori face within a healthcare system based in Western European philosophies and practices reflects previous research highlighting that diagnostic tools such as the DSM can be inappropriate for use with Indigenous peoples [30]. Vicary and Bishop [42] note, for example, that “Aboriginal conceptualisations of mental health appear more holistic and contain elements that are both cultural and spiritual” (p. 8). As such, ensuring culturally safe care for all Indigenous peoples with eating disorders requires addressing eating disorder stigma, stereotypes, and systemic racism, and drawing on culturally relevant approaches to health and healthcare.

Te reo Māori suppression and revitalization

The invasion of Aotearoa by European colonists saw the systematic suppression of Māori worldviews, beliefs, and practices [26]—a process Marsden and Royal call “cultural genocide” [25] (p.88)—resulting in a health sector dominated by Western knowledge systems, and chronic systemic health inequities for Māori [4]. Te reo Māori language suppression was central to colonisation and assimilation processes in Aotearoa and, together with land loss, had disastrous effects for contemporary cultural wellbeing and health outcomes of Māori [40].

State education acted as a primary mechanism for establishing the hegemony of the English language and the erosion of te reo Māori, by enacting ‘English only’ classrooms, punishing Māori children who spoke te reo at school, and teaching that Māori culture and language were ‘inferior’ to a more ‘civilised’ English language and culture [11, 33, 43]. The displacement of Māori from their lands and economic impoverishment also led to rapid urbanisation, which destroyed rural strongholds of te reo Māori speakers [11, 33]. As such, Māori have experienced significant cultural loss, including a critical decline in the use and fluency of te reo Māori [19].

Te reo is amidst an ongoing process of revitalisation [37] which gained momentum in the late twentieth century following the emergence of a broader Māori cultural revitalisation movement, and other landmark events including Te Petihana Reo Māori (The Maori Language Petition) in 1972 and the WAI 11 Report of the Waitangi Tribunal (a permanent commission of inquiry in Aotearoa) in 1986 [19, 33]. This Waitangi Tribunal [43] report recognised te reo as taonga (a treasure, prized) and thus entitled to state protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (an agreement between Māori and the British Crown). For Māori, te reo is the essence of, and a lifeline to, “our culture and our very being” [38] (p. 34) and provides a gateway to Māori worldviews and knowledge. As such, te reo Māori revitalisation is a key mechanism for addressing the intergenerational harms of colonising and (re)indigenising healthcare, including in our field of eating disorders.

The current study

The current study builds on the previous work of Te Reo Hāpai [29], a Māori language glossary for the mental health, addiction, and disability sectors, to develop a Māori language glossary specifically for use in eating disorders. By developing terms from a mana-enhancing Māori worldview, we aim to support Māori to give voice to their experience in culturally resonant ways, contribute to te reo Māori language revitalisation, and enhance cultural safety among eating disorder clinicians and researchers. We also hope this research will support the development of new eating disorder terms in non-English languages to promote culturally relevant eating disorder care for other Indigenous peoples, as well as for minoritised racial and ethnic groups.

Methodology

The process of establishing which existing kupu Māori we would use in our work, and creating new kupu Māori, was based in the practice of wānanga [24]. Wā means both time and space,in the Māori world, time and space are unified, “therefore, past events do not lose their significance, and ancestors can collapse the space–time continuum to be co-present with their descendants” [35] (p.3). Wānanga, as a verb, is typically defined as meeting, discussing, deliberating, or considering. It means to think deeply about a particular kaupapa (topic or matter for discussion). Through our practice of wānanga we were able to develop our glossary as a collective.

After contacting Keri Opai and inviting him to join us for an in-person hui (gathering or meeting), we held an initial wānanga about Māori words for eating disorders. Keri explained the whakapapa or thinking behind the kupu already published in Te Reo Hāpai (‘pukuruaki’ for bulimia nervosa and ‘māuiui whakatiki’ for anorexia nervosa), and our group members suggested eating disorder terms we might want to express in te reo Māori. The combination of eating disorder experience and expertise, and te reo Māori expertise was critical for this process; although our group includes members relatively confident in their conversational te reo Māori use and has relationships with native speakers of te reo Māori (including kaumātua, or Māori elders), a licensed interpreter brings the knowledge of grammar and language structure essential for creating new terms. Keri explained to our rōpū that there is a difference between translating words and interpreting a concept. For this work, our intention was to capture the meaning of terms such as ‘eating disorder’, rather than to provide a surface-level translation that fails to speak to te ao Māori (Māori worldview) concepts that sit underneath them.

Our first wānanga left us with more questions than it did answers, and we realised we needed more time to work through some of our proposed terms. For example, DSM diagnoses such as ‘avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder’ were difficult to interpret, given the many diverse reasons that can lead to avoiding food. We also grappled with the concept of ‘body image’, given that precolonisation, before the import of Western beauty ideals (in particular, the thin ideal), qualities of hard work (pukumahi) and care, respect, and generosity towards others (manaakitanga) were more highly valued than one’s appearance. As such, we created a working group with a subset of our members named Te Ohu Waihanga Kupu (a working group to create words) and held two further online wānanga, with an aim to create a small glossary of eating disorder terms, as well as a few other relevant concepts (e.g., perfectionism and emotion dysregulation). In between wānanga, Keri reflected on our kōrero (discussion, conversation) and developed new ideas for terms.

Finally, we took our draft glossary to our wider rōpū for feedback, both via email and in online hui, before finalising the terms for future use by Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai. Alongside this paper, our glossary will be shared in a freely available pukapuka (booklet). To develop this pukapuka, we collaborated with Māori artists and designers, and focused on creating imagery that challenged stereotypes of who has an eating disorder, and captured what we understand as the mana-diminishing nature of eating disorders. We present our glossary in the next section, together with an explanation of the thinking behind each interpretation.

Results

Eating disorder terms

Ngā māuiui kai: Eating disorders

Māuiui is to be tired, sick, unwell, out of sorts, or out of balance. Kai is food. So, ngā māuiui kai is to be out of balance or out of sorts in relation to food. We use māuiui often throughout our glossary of terms, because it is not a permanent state; but is recoverable. We avoid use of the term “mate” often used in te reo Māori to describe ill health. Although used to mean “sick”, mate is also used to mean “dead” or to indicate a permanent state.

Māuiui whakatiki: Anorexia nervosa

Whakatiki is to be sparing in what you eat. Māuiui whakatiki is being unwell or out of balance as a result of being sparing in what you eat.

Pukuruaki: Bulimia nervosa

Puku means stomach, abdomen, centre, or belly. In te ao Māori, our emotions are often in our puku; this is why we have words like pukuriri (to be very angry or furious) or pukukata (to laugh with great gusto). Ruaki is to vomit or regurgitate. When we use the kupu pukuruaki we refer to attempts to control those emotions that feel out of control, or to expel those that feel too overwhelming to keep in. We use pukuruaki to refer to purging and other compensatory behaviours, not only vomiting; including exercise, fasting, and diet pills.

Māuiui kaihoro: Binge eating disorder

Kaihoro can be used to describe the act of eating quickly. We use māuiui kaihoro to mean eating a large amount quickly, in a way that makes someone feel unwell or out of balance. Māuiui kaihoro also describes the loss of control and distressing emotions that can come with binge eating.

Karo kai: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

Karo is to avoid or parry away. We use karo kai as an umbrella term to describe avoiding food or parrying food away as seen in ARFID. We also created terms for the three main ARFID subtypes:

Arokore kai: Low interest in eating. Aro is to face, turn towards, or take notice of, and kore describes an absence or lack of something. Arokore kai is to pay little attention to food, not notice hunger, or not prioritise kai.

Āmaimai rongo kai: Sensory-based avoidance of food Rongo is about senses – to hear, feel, smell, taste, and perceive. Āmaimai is to be nervous, tense, anxious, or uneasy. So, āmaimai rongo describes nervousness due to senses around food (e.g., the appearance, taste, or texture of food).

Wehi-ā-kai: Concern about the consequences of eating Wehi is to be afraid or fearful. Wehi-ā-kai means to be afraid or fearful because of food or eating, and this fear could be related to something that happened in the past, or something that might happen in the future. Wehi-ā-kai could relate to fear about choking, vomiting, or becoming sick because of eating.

Related concepts

Māuiui kōtihitihi: Perfectionism

Kōtihitihi describes the top, summit, peak, or extremities of things pointed upwards, like a maunga (mountain). Māuiui kōtihitihi is striving to reach the pinnacle of perfection, in a way that is causing imbalance or unwellness.

Kare ā-roto kōtitititi: Emotion dysregulation

Kare ā-roto is used to describe emotions, feelings, or inner thoughts. Kōtitititi is used to describe something that flits around or goes all over the place, like the flight path of a small bird. Kōtitititi or Tītipounamu are also names for the rifleman, the smallest bird in Aotearoa, which flies short distances very quickly. Kare ā-roto kōtitititi describes difficulty managing emotions.

Māuiui whakawā ata: Body image difficulties

Ata is a reflected image (for our tūpuna, or ancestors, this would have been in water). Whakawā is to judge or put on trial. So, māuiui whakawā ata refers to judging our reflection in a way that is out of balance or causes unwellness; seeing a misrepresented or skewed reflection.

Discussion

Here, we present a te reo Māori glossary of terms for use by eating disorder researchers, clinicians, experts-by-experience and their whānau, health providers, and policymakers. This glossary was created by Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai, a national network of Māori working in the field of eating disorders in Aotearoa, with te reo Māori expertise of author, linguist and educator Keri Opai. We approached this kaupapa within a Māori worldview, guided by the Māori process of wānanga; to take time to think deeply about a particular kaupapa. As Māori living in the settler colonial context of Aotearoa, this meant attempting to decolonise and reindigenise ourselves, and to gently pull each other back when we default to a Eurocentric (in this case, a diagnostic and biomedical) way of thinking.

Our work sits within a broader literature that recommends caution in the use of DSM diagnoses with Indigenous peoples [30], and challenges the so-called universality of psychiatric diagnosis [20]. It speaks to Kaupapa Māori and fat studies scholarship [13] advocating a body sovereignty focus to re-represent fat Indigenous bodies [12]. We also acknowledge previous research that highlights the key role of language in eating disorder stigmatisation (see, for example, [23, 44]). To our knowledge, this glossary is the first ever set of Indigenous terms published for proposed use in the eating disorders field. Just as Te Reo Hāpai has inspired other Indigenous peoples and minoritised ethnic groups around the world to develop local terms for mental health, addiction, and disability, we hope that this glossary will give rise to the development of new eating disorder terms in non-English languages.

Reflections, implications, and future directions

The process of developing this glossary has raised a number of pātai (questions), both within our rōpū and from others we have shared this with, about the boundaries of its terms. For example, if someone does not meet criteria for anorexia nervosa using the DSM or ICD (but might meet criteria for 'other specified feeding or eating disorder', or be considered to have a subclinical eating disorder) could they use the terms ‘māuiui kai’ and ‘māuiui whakatiki’ that we have proposed? In response, we come back to the guiding principles for our work; we aimed to propose mana-enhancing terms that resonate for Māori, who are often excluded from accessing eating disorder treatment, at least in part because of the cultural insensitivity of assessment tools like the BMI, and arbitrary symptom cutoffs in diagnostic thresholds [5]. As such, the terms we propose are not confined by Western diagnostic models. If someone is unwell as a result of being sparing in what they eat and māuiui whakatiki makes sense to them, this term can be used regardless of whether or not they meet the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. Our group does not act as the gatekeepers of the terms in this glossary, or the arbiters of when they can be used. We use these terms in our own work and see the publication of this glossary as the start of a much wider kōrero with whānau Māori, kaumātua, speakers of te reo Māori, researchers, and clinicians.

We see potential for this glossary to be used in both clinical and non-clinical settings, and plan to distribute the resource that accompanies this paper in eating disorder services and other health services; iwi-based services (iwi are extended kinship groups) and marae (meeting grounds or communal facilities for Māori); charitable and community organisations; and to professional bodies for health disciplines such as psychology, nursing, medicine, and social work. This resource can be freely downloaded at tinyurl.com/ngamauiuikai. Future research could seek feedback about the terms in this glossary from Māori with experience of or who are working in eating disorders. We do acknowledge, though, that Māori are not homogenous, and our diverse perspectives and realities mean we will never settle on a set of terms accepted by everyone. The process of seeking feedback and revising this glossary (or, indeed, any te reo Māori interpretation) involves striking a balance between wide and genuine consultation and accepting that this is a potentially indefinite process that must be ended at some point. We encountered this tension within our own rōpū when developing this glossary, when discussing how much consultation is appropriate for our people and work. We remind ourselves that our process was tika (correct, true, right), and that we do not claim to speak for all of Māoridom; at some stage, our work must be put out in the world for others to consider.

Although we understand the terms in this glossary as more encompassing than terms associated with diagnostic criteria in the DSM and ICD, we must acknowledge the tension inherent in creating Indigenous terms based in Western, biomedical classification systems. Is interpretation of terms such as ‘anorexia nervosa’ in an Indigenous language a colonising force, or an example of epistemic violence? If we are coming from a Māori worldview, and these terms were not created using that worldview, do all eating disorder classifications need interpretation into te reo Māori? In grappling with these questions, we discussed the reality that in our settler colonial context, Māori are experiencing the difficulties described by Western classification systems, and in our experience, struggling to connect with or relate to the terms offered by te reo Pākehā (the English language). So, the development of this glossary is in part a pragmatic acknowledgement that Indigenous language does shift and grow in response to colonial processes. Importantly, we chose not to translate diagnoses of “eating disorder not otherwise specified” (using the DSM-IV) or “other specified feeding and eating disorders” (using the DSM-5), also known as “atypical anorexia nervosa” or “atypical bulimia nervosa”, as these have been widely reported as invalidating diagnoses that can reduce help-seeking and access to treatment [3, 18, 45].

A final reflection relates to stigma and the ‘euphemism cycle’ (also called the ‘euphemism treadmill’ [36]), a term used in linguistics to describe the process by which “names for stigmatized groups or phenomena take on the stigma associated with those groups or phenomena over time” [14] (p. 30). Durie (quoted in [29]) refers to this process in his foreword to Te Reo Hāpai, when he notes that “often words previously used in a positive sense can acquire negative connotations. In former times, the notion of ‘asylum’ for example implied a space where comfort, protection and caring prevailed. Later, the same word came to mean an institution where containment, regimentation and involuntary admission prevailed” (p. 3). For us, this shows that developing or using kupu is not sufficient to reduce stigma; the use of new terms must come with attempts to shift their attached sociocultural meanings. Otherwise, the terms in this glossary risk being tarred with the same stigmatising brush as existing diagnostic terms. With regards to eating disorder terminology, challenging stigma means promoting messages that eating disorders do not discriminate by ethnicity, culture, age, body shape and size, or socioeconomic status; are not reflective of personal choice or responsibility; are produced by many factors; and—as we routinely say to one another in our rōpū—are not really about the kai.

Conclusion

We present a Māori language glossary for eating disorders, and related concepts of body image difficulties, perfectionism, and emotion dysregulation. We publish this glossary in the hopes that terms developed in te reo Māori from a mana-enhancing Māori worldview will increase cultural safety for Māori, and inclusion of Māori in eating disorder spaces. Importantly, these terms are intended as more encompassing than the diagnostic labels from which they were interpreted. We intend these kupu for use by anyone that resonates with them; use of these terms is not contingent on meeting diagnostic criteria. Importantly, this glossary is not a definitive guide or put forth as ‘correct’ terms for use in eating disorders, but as possibilities that we hope will prompt feedback and discussion about stigma, indigeneity, and language in the eating disorders field. We acknowledge the tensions that come with decolonising eating disorder spaces (and, indeed, decolonising ourselves!) and celebrate the diversity of Indigenous Māori perspectives and needs. Our inboxes are open for any questions, feedback, and reflections. Horahia mai ngā kōrero—we welcome conversation.

Appendix

Āmaimai: Nervous, tense, anxious, uneasy

Aro: Face, turn towards, take notice of

Ata: Reflected image, reflection

Horahia mai ngā kōrero: We welcome conversation, spread the word

Hui: Meeting, gathering

Iwi: Extended kinship groups

Kai: Food

Kaihoro: To eat quickly

Kare ā-roto: Emotions, feelings, or inner thoughts

Karo: Avoid, parry away

Kaumātua: Māori elders, people of status

Kaupapa: Topic, matter for discussion

Kore: Absence, lack

Kōrero: Discussion, conversation

Kōtihitihi: Top, summit, peak, extremities of things pointed upwards

Kōtititi: Go astray, stray, be irregular, wander

Kupu: Words, terms

Mahi: Work, activity, exercise

Mana-enhancing: Used here to mean empowering, respectful, and strengths-based

Mana: Prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma

Manaakitanga: Care, respect, generosity

Māori: Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand

Marae: Meeting grounds or communal facilities

Mātauranga Māori: The body of Māori knowledge

Mate: Dead, sick, defeated

Māuiui: Tired, sick, unwell, out of sorts, out of balance

Maunga: Mountain

Pātai: Question, questions

Pukapuka: Book, booklet, document

Puku: Stomach, abdomen, centre, belly, emotional centre

Pukumahi: Industrious, hard-working, diligent

Pukuriri: Angry, furious

Pukukata: Laugh with great gusto

Rongo: Hear, feel, smell, taste, perceive

Rōpū: Group, party of people

Ruaki: Vomit, regurgitate

Tangata Tiriti: Non-Māori who live in Aotearoa and are committed to growing a truly Tiriti-centric Aotearoa, based on the principles and articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Taonga: Treasure, anything prized

Te Petihana Reo Māori: The Maori Language Petition

Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey

Te Reo Hāpai: A Māori language glossary for the mental health, addiction, and disability sectors

Te reo Māori: Māori language

Te Tira Wānanga Māuiui Kai: The Māori Eating Disorders and Eating Issues Network

Te Tiriti o Waitangi: The Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement between Māori and the British Crown Tūpuna/tīpuna: Ancestors, grandparents

Wānanga: To meet, discuss, and think deeply about a topic

Wehi: Afraid, fearful

Whakapapa: Genealogy, lineage, descent

Whakataukī/whakataukītanga kōrero: Proverb or proverbial saying

Whakatiki: Sparing in what one eats

Whakawā: To judge, put on trial

Whānau: Family, extended family

Author contributions

MTRC conceptualised the study. GF, MTRC, KC, BB, MP, JJ, and KO attended an initial hui to plan the project and begin te reo Māori interpretation. GF, MTRC, BR, BB, JJ, and KO met to develop and finalise the glossary, and KO led the re reo Māori interpretation. GF was responsible for project administration and liaising with funders, and wrote the original draft with the support of KM. All authors reviewed and provided feedback on the original draft.

Funding

Funding was provided by Whāraurau, Auckland UniServices Ltd, University of Auckland. The Whāraurau eating issues and eating disorders workstream was commissioned by Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand). The funding agencies for this study had no influence on the design of the study, analysis, or interpretation.

Availability of data and materials

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.