Dietary intake, exercise, obesity and noncommunicable disease in rural and urban populations of three Pacific Island countries.

Abstract

Dietary intake surveys of rural and urban communities in three Pacific Island countries were conducted using an adjusted 24-hour dietary recall method. Dietary survey samples were drawn from noncommunicable disease surveys of Melanesians and Indians in Fiji, Micronesians in Kiribati and Melanesians in Vanuatu. Comparisons of total energy and macronutrient intakes and of obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, serum cholesterol and physical activity levels revealed similar rural/urban trends. Urban subjects were more obese than rural ones, had higher prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension, and generally had higher cholesterol levels. Rural subjects were leaner, suffered less from diabetes and hypertension, and had greater total energy intakes than urban dwellers. Rural people ate a greater proportion of carbohydrates, while urban subjects ate proportionally more protein and fat, apart from the outer Kiribati atolls with high coconut intakes. Rural subjects in all three studies had higher levels of physical activity. These studies provide persuasive evidence that exercise as well as diet has a significant effect on rural/urban differentials in obesity and noncommunicable disease, and that energy intake reflects energy expenditure.

Mortality trends in Fiji

“…Dietary intake surveys in Fiji and elsewhere in the 1980's demonstrated that urban populations were more obese, had higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, higher salt intake and generally higher serum cholesterol levels, than their rural counterparts, despite a lower overall calorie intake; indicating the impact of physical exercise and dietary differences on cardiovascular risk factors. 85 The relationship of Fiji adult mortality to cardiovascular risk factors was demonstrated in an 11-year followup 81 of the 1980 national risk factor survey, 7 which found systolic blood pressure, total serum cholesterol and two hour (post load) plasma glucose associated with cardiovascular disease mortality, with differences by sex and ethnicity. These studies suggest that the prevalence of circulatory disease risk factors in Fiji is consistent with the high adult mortality and increasing PM from cardiovascular diseases.…”

Nutritional status in adults in the pluri-ethnic population of New Caledonia

“…This impact of urbanization on fatness has already been described in Melanesian women 32,33 and in Polynesians of both sexes. 32 These inter-ethnic and urban-rural differences in morphotype parallel those recently reported for diabetes mellitus prevalence rates 18 Diabetes prevalence was higher in Polynesians of both sexes and, in Melanesians, the prevalence was higher in Noumea than in rural area. The urban-rural difference in diabetes prevalence persisted after adjustment on body mass index.…”

“…31 Other nongenetic factors linked to environmental and social conditions should be taken into account (for example, physical exercise, diet, availability of food), as previously studied in other Paci®c Islands. 32 Further studies involving genetic and hormonal factors in Melanesians should contribute to an understanding of the particular pattern of body fat distribution in this population.…”

Transformação e persistência: antropologia da alimentação e nutrição em uma sociedade indígena amazônica

“…Desse modo, a comida adquirida por vias comerciais parece corresponder, à exceção de alguns aspectos, à descrição feita para as mudanças alimentares entre populações nativas de outras partes do mundo, com uma predominância de itens de baixo custo e reduzido conteúdo de proteínas, vitaminas, minerais e fibras, e ricos em carboidratos e gorduras (Cavalli-Sforza et al, 1996;Eason et al, 1987;Murphy et al, 1997;O'Dea, 1991;Taylor et al, 1992;Wirsing, 1985). No Brasil, quadro semelhante tem sido observado em estudos realizados na última década e que incluíram um componente sobre consumo alimentar (Lima, 2004;Ribas & Phillippi, 2003;Santos et al, 1997;Schuch, 2001).…”