Obesity emergence in the Pacific islands: why understanding colonial history and social change is important

Public Health Nutrition

Amy K McLennan¹  Stanley J Ulijaszek¹ 

关键词: Obesity;    Pacific islands;    Colonial history;    Social change;    Dietary change;    Interdependence;   

DOI  :  10.1017/S136898001400175X

学科分类：卫生学

来源: Cambridge University Press

【 摘 要 】

Abstract ObjectiveBetween 1980 and 2008, two Pacific island nations – Nauru and the Cook Islands – experienced the fastest rates of increasing BMI in the world. Rates were over four times higher than the mean global BMI increase. The aim of the present paper is to examine why these populations have been so prone to obesity increases in recent times.DesignThree explanatory frames that apply to both countries are presented: (i) geographic isolation and genetic predisposition; (ii) small population and low food production capacity; and (iii) social change under colonial influence. These are compared with social changes documented by anthropologists during the colonial and post-colonial periods.SettingNauru and the Cook Islands.ResultsWhile islands are isolated, islanders are interconnected. Similarly, islands are small, but land use is socially determined. While obesity affects individuals, islanders are interdependent. New social values, which were rapidly propagated through institutions such as the colonial system of education and the cash economy, are today reflected in all aspects of islander life, including diet. Such historical social changes may predispose societies to obesity.ConclusionsColonial processes may have put in place the conditions for subsequent rapidly escalating obesity. Of the three frameworks discussed, social change under colonial influence is not immutable to further change in the future and could take place rapidly. In theorising obesity emergence in the Pacific islands, there is a need to incorporate the idea of obesity being a product of interdependence and interconnectedness, rather than independence and individual choice.

【 授权许可】

Unknown