A new research institute hopes to address what it describes as an epidemic of strokes among Maori and Pacific island people.
Professor Valery Feigin, the head of AUT's National Institute of Stroke & Applied Neuroscience, says in some countries stroke rates are dropping, but the rate is up 19% among Maori and the Pacific rate is up 66%.
He told Waatea News that higher rates of abdominal obesity and elevated blood pressure are major contributors.
Professor Feigin says Maori get check-ups on their cars more often than they do their bodies.
