Pacific island nations and associated states make up the top seven on a 2007 list of heaviest countries, and eight of the top ten. In all these cases, more than 70% of citizens age 15 and over are obese.[1] A mitigating argument is that the BMI measures used to appraise obesity in Caucasian bodies may need to be adjusted for appraising obesity in Polynesian bodies, which typically have larger bone and muscle mass than Caucasian bodies; however, this would not account for the drastically higher rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes among these same islanders.[2][3][4]
Obesity is seen as a sign of wealth in Nauru.[6] 31% of Nauruans are diabetic.[7] This rate is as high as 45% among the 55–64-year-old age group .[6]
Tonga
Life expectancy has fallen to 64 in Tonga. Tongan life expectancy used to be in the mid-70s.[8] Up to 40% of the population is said to have type 2 diabetes.[8] Tongan Royal Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, who died in 2006, holds the Guinness World Record for being the heaviest-ever monarch— with a weight of 200 kilograms (440 lb).[8]
Fiji
In Fiji, strokes used to be rare in people under 70. Now, doctors report that they have become common amongst patients in their 20s and 30s.[9] Research done on globalization's impact on health indicates that the rise in average BMI in Fiji correlates with the increase in imports of processed food.[10] Dr Temo K Waqanivalu, a Fijian representative for WHO, attributes health problems in his country to the replacement of traditional foods by more glamorous imported foods.[11]
Marshall Islands
In the Marshall Islands in 2008, there were 2000 cases of diabetes out of a population of 53,000.[9] Diabetes prevalence in adults in the Marshall Islands in 2011 was 21.8%.[12] A survey done in the Marshall Islands revealed that the percentage of the total population considered overweight or obese was 62.5%.[13]
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands comprises fifteen small islands and has a local population of about 10,000 people. In the Cook Islands, meals and feasts exemplify a level of community. Food habits play a role in maintaining social status and hierarchy.[14]
The arrival of fast food restaurants and other contemporary food items on the islands are one of the issues responsible for the obesity in Samoa. The earliest photographs of Samoans provide visual proof of the native population's natural physique before the introduction of processed foods by Western society. The natural lifestyle of physically labouring to provide for natural foods and building shelters and communities gave way to modern conveniences like drive through restaurants, motorised vehicles, air travel, wireless communications, genetically modified foods, and pharmaceutical and recreational drugs. The development of modern society, although advanced with technologies, has also made it easy for many to live an unhealthy lifestyle, therefore leading to obesity.
Causes
Colonial History and Social Change
In the early twentieth century, external people visiting the islands such as missionaries and colonial visitors to the Pacific Islands influenced local food habits. In the 1910s, European colonial powers introduced a number of foods to the Nauruans to mitigate impacts of drought and famine and add variety to the Nauruan diet. In the 1920s, the wife of one missionary taught Nauruans to fry fish in a pan rather than eat it raw. Over time, such changes led to skill loss (in fishing and food preservation) and dependence on foreign foods.[14]
A relatively sedentary lifestyle, including among children, is also contributing to rising obesity rates.[15]
Cultural Standards and Practices
Obesity in the Pacific Islands is also thought to be influenced by social and cultural factors (tambu foods), including past poor public education on diet, exercise and health[16] Micronutrient deficiencies are also common.[17]) Feasting and festivals are major parts of life,[18] imported foods have been given higher social status than local, healthier foods,[16] and historically a large body size was associated with wealth, power and beauty.[6][16] The Nauru term for satisfaction and feeling healthy, pweda, is the same as fullness or distention.[19]
High rates of obesity appear within 15 months of birth.[20]
Nutrient Transmission
Nutrient transmission (change in diet) is the primary cause of the obesity epidemic in the Pacific Islands, with a high amount of imported foods high in salt and fat content grow.[21] Much of the local diet as of at least 2008 consists of processed, salty and calorie-dense imported food such as spam or corned beef, rather than traditional fresh fish, fruit and vegetables.[22][23][24][circular reference] Some foods high in saturated fat such as mutton flaps and turkey tails are sold in the Pacific islands due to relatively low wealth.[25]
A trend of childhood overweight and obesity rates is on the rise. In 2016, the highest rates of obesity for girls (over 30%) were in Nauru and for boys in the Cook Islands.[21]
Efforts to treat obesity
The World Health Organization implemented various fiscal policies to fight the rise of childhood obesity. Policies include (1) taxation of sugar sweetened beverages (20% SSB Tax) (2) New Marketing on Unhealthy Foods and Beverages to Children (3) International Code of Marketing on Breast Milk Substitutes.[21] Different nations implemented these WHO recommendations to a different extent.[21]
However, such existing public health programs based on nutrition and exercise, solely focusing on the domain of health, have achieved little success.[14] Histories of social values surrounding food and health is often overlooked, and may explain why food habits are hard to change through public health programs.
^ abLauren Streib (8 February 2007). . Forbes. Archived from the original on 25 January 2017.
^"Fat of the land: Nauru tops obesity league". Independent.co.uk. 26 December 2010.
^Bialik, By Carl (12 April 2013). "Island Where Obesity May Not be All It Seems". Wall Street Journal.
^Snowdon, Wendy; Malakellis, Mary; Millar, Lynne; Swinburn, Boyd (2014). "Ability of body mass index and waist circumference to identify risk factors for non-communicable disease in the Pacific Islands". Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. 8 (1): e36–45. doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2012.06.005. PMID 24548575.
^"Obesity - adult prevalence rate - the World Factbook".
^ abcMarks, Kathy (26 December 2010). "Fat of the land: Nauru tops obesity league". The Independent. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^Streib, Lauren (2 August 2007). "Nauru: 94.5% overweight". Forbes.com. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
^ abc"How mutton flaps are killing Tonga". BBC News. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
^ ab"Modern life means modern ills for obese Pacific islanders". AFP. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
^Lin, Tracy Kuo; Teymourian, Yasmin; Tursini, Maitri Shila (14 April 2018). "The effect of sugar and processed food imports on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 172 countries". Globalization and Health. Vol. 14. doi:10.1186/s12992-018-0344-y.
^. www.who.int. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
^"Diabetes prevalence (% of population ages 20 to 79) - Marshall Islands | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
^Ichiho, Henry M.; Seremai, Johannes; Trinidad, Richard; Paul, Irene; Langidrik, Justina; Aitaoto, Nia (May 2013). "An assessment of non-communicable diseases, diabetes, and related risk factors in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Kwajelein Atoll, Ebeye Island: a systems perspective". Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health: A Journal of Asia Pacific Medicine & Public Health. 72 (5 Suppl 1): 77–86. ISSN 2165-8242. PMC3689463. PMID 23901366.
^ abcMcLennan, Amy K.; Ulijaszek, Stanley J. (June 2015). "Obesity emergence in the Pacific islands: why understanding colonial history and social change is important". Public Health Nutrition. 18 (8): 1499–1505. doi:10.1017/S136898001400175X. ISSN 1368-9800. PMID 25166024. S2CID 6823966.
^"Pacific Islanders are world's fattest". BBC News. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
^ abc"WHO Western Pacific | World Health Organization" (PDF).
^. www.who.int. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
^"Pacific islanders are world's fattest". 28 November 2001.
^McLennan, AK (2015). "Bringing everyday life into the study of 'lifestyle diseases': lessons from an ethnographic investigation of obesity in Nauru" (PDF). Journal of Anthropological Society of Oxford. 7: 286–301.
^ abcdeFoster, Nicole; Thow, Anne Marie; Unwin, Nigel; Alvarado, Miriam; Samuels, T. Alafia (2018). "Regulatory measures to fight obesity in Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean and Pacific, 2015 – 2017". Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública. 42: e191. doi:10.26633/RPSP.2018.191. ISSN 1020-4989. PMC6386011. PMID 31093218.
^Nick Squires (12 April 2008). "Spam at heart of South Pacific obesity crisis". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
^Phil Mercer (26 February 2007). . Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
^"How mutton flaps are killing Tonga". BBC News. 18 January 2016.
^Colagiuri, S; Colagiuri, R; Na'Ati, S; Muimuiheata, S; Hussain, Z; Palu, T (2002). "The Prevalence of Diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga". Diabetes Care. 25 (8): 1378–83. doi:10.2337/diacare.25.8.1378. PMID 12145238.
^Kaforau, Lydia S. K.; Tessema, Gizachew A.; Jancey, Jonine; Dhamrait, Gursimran; Bugoro, Hugo; Pereira, Gavin (1 April 2022). "Prevalence and risk factors of adverse birth outcomes in the Pacific Island region: A scoping review". The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. 21: 100402. doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100402. ISSN 2666-6065. PMC8873950. PMID 35243458.
January 20, 2023
obesity, pacific, pacific, island, nations, associated, states, make, seven, 2007, list, heaviest, countries, eight, these, cases, more, than, citizens, over, obese, mitigating, argument, that, measures, used, appraise, obesity, caucasian, bodies, need, adjust. Pacific island nations and associated states make up the top seven on a 2007 list of heaviest countries and eight of the top ten In all these cases more than 70 of citizens age 15 and over are obese 1 A mitigating argument is that the BMI measures used to appraise obesity in Caucasian bodies may need to be adjusted for appraising obesity in Polynesian bodies which typically have larger bone and muscle mass than Caucasian bodies however this would not account for the drastically higher rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes among these same islanders 2 3 4 Nauruan residents walking around Nauru International Airport Young Nauruans in 1914 Share of adults that are obese in different countries in Oceania 1975 to 2016 Contents 1 Overweight populations 2 Obese populations 5 3 Nations 3 1 Nauru 3 2 Tonga 3 3 Fiji 3 4 Marshall Islands 3 5 Cook Islands 3 6 Samoa 4 Causes 4 1 Colonial History and Social Change 4 2 Cultural Standards and Practices 4 3 Nutrient Transmission 5 Results 6 Efforts to treat obesity 7 See also 8 ReferencesOverweight populations EditWorld ranking 1 Pacific country of overweight persons age 15 and over 1 Nauru 94 52 Micronesia Federated States of 91 13 Cook Islands 90 94 Tonga 90 85 Niue 81 76 Fiji 80 47 Palau 78 4Obese populations 5 EditRank Country of obese persons1 Nauru 61 002 Cook Islands 55 903 Palau 55 304 Marshall Islands 52 905 Tuvalu 51 606 Niue 50 007 Tonga 48 208 Federated States of Micronesia 47 309 Kiribati 46 0010 Samoa 47 30Nations EditNauru Edit Main article Obesity in Nauru Obesity is seen as a sign of wealth in Nauru 6 31 of Nauruans are diabetic 7 This rate is as high as 45 among the 55 64 year old age group 6 Tonga Edit Life expectancy has fallen to 64 in Tonga Tongan life expectancy used to be in the mid 70s 8 Up to 40 of the population is said to have type 2 diabetes 8 Tongan Royal Taufaʻahau Tupou IV who died in 2006 holds the Guinness World Record for being the heaviest ever monarch with a weight of 200 kilograms 440 lb 8 Fiji Edit In Fiji strokes used to be rare in people under 70 Now doctors report that they have become common amongst patients in their 20s and 30s 9 Research done on globalization s impact on health indicates that the rise in average BMI in Fiji correlates with the increase in imports of processed food 10 Dr Temo K Waqanivalu a Fijian representative for WHO attributes health problems in his country to the replacement of traditional foods by more glamorous imported foods 11 Marshall Islands Edit In the Marshall Islands in 2008 there were 2000 cases of diabetes out of a population of 53 000 9 Diabetes prevalence in adults in the Marshall Islands in 2011 was 21 8 12 A survey done in the Marshall Islands revealed that the percentage of the total population considered overweight or obese was 62 5 13 Cook Islands Edit The Cook Islands comprises fifteen small islands and has a local population of about 10 000 people In the Cook Islands meals and feasts exemplify a level of community Food habits play a role in maintaining social status and hierarchy 14 Samoa Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The arrival of fast food restaurants and other contemporary food items on the islands are one of the issues responsible for the obesity in Samoa The earliest photographs of Samoans provide visual proof of the native population s natural physique before the introduction of processed foods by Western society The natural lifestyle of physically labouring to provide for natural foods and building shelters and communities gave way to modern conveniences like drive through restaurants motorised vehicles air travel wireless communications genetically modified foods and pharmaceutical and recreational drugs The development of modern society although advanced with technologies has also made it easy for many to live an unhealthy lifestyle therefore leading to obesity Causes EditColonial History and Social Change Edit In the early twentieth century external people visiting the islands such as missionaries and colonial visitors to the Pacific Islands influenced local food habits In the 1910s European colonial powers introduced a number of foods to the Nauruans to mitigate impacts of drought and famine and add variety to the Nauruan diet In the 1920s the wife of one missionary taught Nauruans to fry fish in a pan rather than eat it raw Over time such changes led to skill loss in fishing and food preservation and dependence on foreign foods 14 A relatively sedentary lifestyle including among children is also contributing to rising obesity rates 15 Cultural Standards and Practices Edit Obesity in the Pacific Islands is also thought to be influenced by social and cultural factors tambu foods including past poor public education on diet exercise and health 16 Micronutrient deficiencies are also common 17 Feasting and festivals are major parts of life 18 imported foods have been given higher social status than local healthier foods 16 and historically a large body size was associated with wealth power and beauty 6 16 The Nauru term for satisfaction and feeling healthy pweda is the same as fullness or distention 19 High rates of obesity appear within 15 months of birth 20 Nutrient Transmission Edit Nutrient transmission change in diet is the primary cause of the obesity epidemic in the Pacific Islands with a high amount of imported foods high in salt and fat content grow 21 Much of the local diet as of at least 2008 consists of processed salty and calorie dense imported food such as spam or corned beef rather than traditional fresh fish fruit and vegetables 22 23 24 circular reference Some foods high in saturated fat such as mutton flaps and turkey tails are sold in the Pacific islands due to relatively low wealth 25 Results EditObesity is leading to increased levels of illness including type 2 diabetes 26 and heart diseases and other associated noncommunicable diseases 21 Maternal obesity has been associated with preterm birth in Palau 27 A trend of childhood overweight and obesity rates is on the rise In 2016 the highest rates of obesity for girls over 30 were in Nauru and for boys in the Cook Islands 21 Efforts to treat obesity EditThe World Health Organization implemented various fiscal policies to fight the rise of childhood obesity Policies include 1 taxation of sugar sweetened beverages 20 SSB Tax 2 New Marketing on Unhealthy Foods and Beverages to Children 3 International Code of Marketing on Breast Milk Substitutes 21 Different nations implemented these WHO recommendations to a different extent 21 However such existing public health programs based on nutrition and exercise solely focusing on the domain of health have achieved little success 14 Histories of social values surrounding food and health is often overlooked and may explain why food habits are hard to change through public health programs See also EditList of countries by Body Mass Index BMI Genetics of obesity New World Syndrome Epidemiology of obesityReferences Edit a b Lauren Streib 8 February 2007 World s Fattest Countries Forbes Archived from the original on 25 January 2017 Fat of the land Nauru tops obesity league Independent co uk 26 December 2010 Bialik By Carl 12 April 2013 Island Where Obesity May Not be All It Seems Wall Street Journal Snowdon Wendy Malakellis Mary Millar Lynne Swinburn Boyd 2014 Ability of body mass index and waist circumference to identify risk factors for non communicable disease in the Pacific Islands Obesity Research amp Clinical Practice 8 1 e36 45 doi 10 1016 j orcp 2012 06 005 PMID 24548575 Obesity adult prevalence rate the World Factbook a b c Marks Kathy 26 December 2010 Fat of the land Nauru tops obesity league The Independent Retrieved 23 January 2013 Streib Lauren 2 August 2007 Nauru 94 5 overweight Forbes com Retrieved 23 January 2013 a b c How mutton flaps are killing Tonga BBC News 18 January 2016 Retrieved 19 January 2016 a b Modern life means modern ills for obese Pacific islanders AFP 8 February 2008 Retrieved 21 August 2009 Lin Tracy Kuo Teymourian Yasmin Tursini Maitri Shila 14 April 2018 The effect of sugar and processed food imports on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 172 countries Globalization and Health Vol 14 doi 10 1186 s12992 018 0344 y WHO Pacific islanders pay heavy price for abandoning traditional diet www who int Archived from the original on 19 May 2012 Retrieved 4 November 2018 Diabetes prevalence of population ages 20 to 79 Marshall Islands Data data worldbank org Retrieved 22 April 2022 Ichiho Henry M Seremai Johannes Trinidad Richard Paul Irene Langidrik Justina Aitaoto Nia May 2013 An assessment of non communicable diseases diabetes and related risk factors in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Kwajelein Atoll Ebeye Island a systems perspective Hawai i Journal of Medicine amp Public Health A Journal of Asia Pacific Medicine amp Public Health 72 5 Suppl 1 77 86 ISSN 2165 8242 PMC 3689463 PMID 23901366 a b c McLennan Amy K Ulijaszek Stanley J June 2015 Obesity emergence in the Pacific islands why understanding colonial history and social change is important Public Health Nutrition 18 8 1499 1505 doi 10 1017 S136898001400175X ISSN 1368 9800 PMID 25166024 S2CID 6823966 Pacific Islanders are world s fattest BBC News 28 November 2001 Retrieved 21 August 2009 a b c WHO Western Pacific World Health Organization PDF WHO Pacific islanders pay heavy price for abandoning traditional diet www who int Archived from the original on 19 May 2012 Retrieved 15 January 2022 Pacific islanders are world s fattest 28 November 2001 McLennan AK 2015 Bringing everyday life into the study of lifestyle diseases lessons from an ethnographic investigation of obesity in Nauru PDF Journal of Anthropological Society of Oxford 7 286 301 Samoan obesity epidemic starts at birth a b c d e Foster Nicole Thow Anne Marie Unwin Nigel Alvarado Miriam Samuels T Alafia 2018 Regulatory measures to fight obesity in Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean and Pacific 2015 2017 Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica 42 e191 doi 10 26633 RPSP 2018 191 ISSN 1020 4989 PMC 6386011 PMID 31093218 Nick Squires 12 April 2008 Spam at heart of South Pacific obesity crisis The Daily Telegraph London Retrieved 21 August 2009 Phil Mercer 26 February 2007 South Pacific Leads the World in Obesity Archived from the original on 24 June 2016 Retrieved 15 July 2016 Obesity in Nauru Causes How mutton flaps are killing Tonga BBC News 18 January 2016 Colagiuri S Colagiuri R Na Ati S Muimuiheata S Hussain Z Palu T 2002 The Prevalence of Diabetes in the Kingdom of Tonga Diabetes Care 25 8 1378 83 doi 10 2337 diacare 25 8 1378 PMID 12145238 Kaforau Lydia S K Tessema Gizachew A Jancey Jonine Dhamrait Gursimran Bugoro Hugo Pereira Gavin 1 April 2022 Prevalence and risk factors of adverse birth outcomes in the Pacific Island region A scoping review The Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific 21 100402 doi 10 1016 j lanwpc 2022 100402 ISSN 2666 6065 PMC 8873950 PMID 35243458 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Obesity in the Pacific amp oldid 1128762550, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
