Nutritional status of some Papua New Guinea highlanders as assessed by physical measurements and blood analysis

Abstract

Nutritional assessment (measurements of height, body weight, skinfold thickness, blood pressure and blood analysis) was performed on 740 residents over 5 years of age in a mountainous village in Papua New Guinea. The subjects live on sweet potato as their staple food and have little salt in their diet. In spite of their low protein intake, they did not suffer from malnutrition. Their total serum protein was high, but the serum albumin level was low. The serum total cholesterol was very low, ranging from 98 to 126 mg/100ml and remained unchanged regardless of age and sex. The same tendency was found with serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol, which ranged from 26 to 33 mg/ 100ml. Blood pressure did not vary with sex or age.

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A systematic review

“…Eleven articles 23 – 33 reported on T2DM as the primary outcome, six articles reported on CLD/asthma, 34 – 39 two articles reported on CVDs, 40 , 41 and two reported on cancer 42 , 43 ( Supplemental Table S1 ). The remaining 36 articles reported the prevalence of NCD risk factors as the primary outcome, including hypertension (n = 9), 44 – 52 lipids (n = 6), 53 – 58 overweight and obesity (n = 3), 59 – 61 tobacco smoking (n = 1), 62 and a combination of risk factors (n = 17) 63 – 79 as shown in Supplemental Tab...…”

“…Lipid levels were measured in 13 studies, 63 , 65 – 68 , 70 – 72 , 74 – 78 although only five reported on the prevalence of high cholesterol. 63 , 65 , 71 , 77 , 78 The prevalence of high cholesterol levels ranged from 17% in a study conducted in 1997 among Tari people 78 to complete absence in three studies conducted in the 1950s–1960s in Chimbu Province and EHP in 1988.…”

“…The highest prevalence of body fatness (21.5%) was reported in a study conducted among a group of Tari people (SHP, Highlands) between 1994 and 1995. 79 BMI was measured in 14 studies, 63,[66][67][68][69][70][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79] but the prevalence of obesity (⩾30 kg/m 2 ) was reported in only six. The overall obesity prevalence ranged from 38.6% in a study conducted in 1991 among the Koki people living in Port Moresby, 74 which was absent in a study of Chimbu (HR) people in the 1950s.…”

“…The overall obesity prevalence ranged from 38.6% in a study conducted in 1991 among the Koki people living in Port Moresby, 74 which was absent in a study of Chimbu (HR) people in the 1950s. 63 Blood pressure was measured in 13 studies; [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]72,[74][75][76][77] however, the prevalence of hypertension was reported in only four articles, of which, three define hypertension as >140/90 mm Hg. The reported prevalence ranged from 16.8% among the Koki people of Port Moresby in 1991 74 to 0.4% in a study of people from Chimbu in 1965.…”