The University of Hawaii began surveying Hawaii residents on aspects of their health and access to health care three years ago, following the same group of more than 2,000 adults throughout. Alarmingly, the most recent surveys appear to indicate that problems have magnified — especially for young adults and Native Hawaiians.

This year’s report, “Hawaii’s Health and Wellbeing Journey Over Time — Monitoring Equity and Access,” focused on mental health, access to health care and food security, and found that the levels of each were troublingly low. For just one example, adults between the ages of 35 and 64 reported the lowest rates of excellent or very good health, with about 2 in 3 responding that they were experiencing only middling levels of healthiness.

The highest barriers to obtaining

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