The Geneticization of Aboriginal Diabetes and Obesity: Adding Another Scene to the Story of the Thrifty Gene*

Losing it in Hawai‘i: Weight Watchers and the paradoxical nature of weight gain and loss

“…Some researchers suggest that the 'thrifty gene' in Pacific Islanders contributes to obesity, along with the so-called lifestyle changes, a shorthand term for eating calorie dense, fatty foods common to 'modern' diets. Fee suggests that the thrifty gene theory's use of 'racial' or ethnic group is often a '"rough proxy" for susceptibility to disease, thereby obscuring incidence of disease such as type 2 diabetes amongst European descended peoples ' (2006, 2989) and overly attributing such diseases to particular ethnic groups, such as indigenous peoples of the USA and the Pacific (see also Poudrier 2007).…”

“…We hope, though, that it has raised questions about how WW and weight loss programs emplace themselves in ethnically diverse populations through discursive constructions of 'good' foods, while simultaneously using brown bodies as the public face of former 'fatties.' In making the public face of weight loss brown or black and not white, weight loss organizations may contribute to perceptions that obesity is a problem of nonwhite populations, paralleling medical discourses on the so-called diseases of modernity such as type 2 diabetes that focus narrowly on Hispanics, Native Americans, First Nations, and African-Americans (Fee 2006; see also Poudrier 2007), thus eliding food system inadequacies. However, Local Food, because of its inclusiveness of a range of foods, its already hybrid composition, and the dynamic nature of cuisine changes, incorporates low-fat haole foods in the form of heart-healthy menu options next to Loco Moco at Local eateries.…”

Indigenous People in a Landscape of Risk: Teaching Social Work Students About Socially Just Social Work Responses

“…Alcoholism and substance abuse (McFarland, Gabriel, Bigelow, & Walker, 2006), suicide (Penfold, Hatcher, Sullivan, & Collins, 2006), diabetes (Poudrier, 2007), obesity (Doshi & Jiles, 2006), and violence (Bubar & Thurman, 2004) among indigenous people are well-documented. Rather than applying a deficit model in learning about indigenous peoples, a strengths perspective is most helpful in looking at the physical and cultural survival of Native Americans despite a history of physical and cultural genocide.…”

Fleeting Substantiality: The Samoan Giant in US Popular Discourse

“…I am inspired by the memory of that young man, his decision that day to seat himself uncharacteristically in the front row, his fearless posing of question after question, and what I imagine to be his example of clearly, eagerly, working out for himself the broader possibilities of what being Samoan might mean. Poudrier 2007. 3 For an extended example, see the documentary Polynesian Power (Spear and Pennington 2005).…”