Lay summary
Maori have twice the prevalence of diabetes compared to European. Increases in daily physical activity improve the health of people with diabetes. Improvement in Maori health outcomes, better uptake by Maori of health services and building the Maori health workforce capacity are strategic aims of the Ministry of Health. The Green Prescription Te Rongoaa Kakariki, a SPARC initiative, is more effective in increasing physical activity in New Zealand European than Maori. Potential participants will be randomized to receive a GRx for 6 months with either kanohi-ki-te-kanohi or telephone support. It is hypothesised that at six and twelve months follow-up, the group receiving kanohi-ki-te-kanohi support will have increased and maintained physical activity more than the group with telephone support. Qualitative analysis will explore attitudes, behaviours and motivational factors to physical activity uptake by ethnicity and gender, while quantitative measurements of body size and glucose homeostasis will test the hypothesis.