Health and nutrition in the Pacific islands: Development or underdevelopment?

Abstract

Although modernization has undoubtedly brought about significant improvements in and access to modern health services and has lowered the previously high incidence of some infectious diseases and perinatal deaths, there is increasingly widespread evidence that some old and some new, often very serious health and nutritional problems still exist in all parts of the often "Edenized" Pacific islands. Although "development" has occurred, both infectious and non-communicable degenerative diseases, perinatal mortality, and nuclear pollution still constitute major health problems, and food systems, nutritional status, and nutrition-linked health seem to have deteriorated.

Consumption of traditional versusimported foods in Tonga: Implications for programsdesigned to reduce diet-relatednon-communicable diseases indeveloping countries

“…In Aboriginal communities in North America consumption of low fat/high quality wild meats has declined since access to traditional food resources has become more difficult, while high fat/low quality meats and low CONSUMPTION OF TRADITIONAL/IMPORTED FOODS 155 fiber/complex carbohydrates have become more accessible (Adler et al, 1994;Wein et al, 1989Wein et al, , 1996Wolever et al, 1997aWolever et al, , 1997b. In the South Pacific, similar changes in food consumption patterns have been experienced in conjunction with globalization (Coyne, 1984;Thaman, 1988).…”

The Flora of Tuvalu: Lakau Mo Mouku o Tuvalu

“…In the Pacific Islands, this dietary shift has led to unprecedented levels of food dependency and some of the highest, or most rapidly increasing, incidences in the world of vitamin and mineral deficiency and nutrition-related diseases. Diseases such as iron-deficiency anaemia, vitamin-A deficiency-induced night blindness, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, gout and hyperuricaemia, some forms of cancer and dental disease, which were rarely encountered in the past, are now serious causes of morbidity and mortality in the rapidly urbanizing atoll countries (Thaman 1988). As stressed above, the promotion of the planting and consumption of fresh food crops has been a major priority of many of the agriculture initiatives in Tuvalu over the past 20 years.…”

Kiribati: "Some aspects of human ecology." Forty years later

“…Investment in a limited range of cash crops, together with urbanization, has contributed to a decline of traditional crops and thus a balanced diet. There is clear evidence that westernization and urbanization of Pacific Island populations have resulted in an increased incidence of several noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes, obesity, gout, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers (Coyne, 2000: 14;Thaman, 1988). Dependence on nutritionally inferior food imports among growing segments of island populations is largely responsible for declining health standards.…”