Socio‐cultural agents and their impact on body image and body change strategies among adolescents in Fiji, Tonga, Tongans in New Zealand and Australia

Abstract

Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Terms and Conditions set out at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/ onlineopen#OnlineOpen_Terms Summary This paper reports on the findings of studies that were conducted as part of the Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities project. The studies evaluated the types of messages that adolescents received in relation to body image, physical activity and eating. The participants were male and female adolescents from Fiji (two cultural groups), Tonga, New Zealand (Tongans) and Australia (European Australians). Three studies were conducted: interviews with 48 adolescents (24 male, 24 female) from each cultural group, questionnaires with 600 adolescents (300 male, 300 female) from each cultural group and the perceptual distortion study with 100 adolescents (50 male, 50 female) from the two cultural groups in Fiji and European Australians. The results demonstrate that parents, peers, the media, as well as religious influences impact on the type of body valued by adolescents in each of the cultural groups, as well as their levels of body satisfaction. These influences also shape the type and volume of food consumed, and the type and frequency of physical activity. The results of these studies highlight the major role played by the broader societal values in shaping the nature of the messages that adolescents receive in relation to their body size, eating and physical activity.

Knowledge exchange in the Pacific: The TROPIC (Translational Research into Obesity Prevention Policies for Communities) project

“…The Pacific OPIC project yielded multiple data sets relating to adolescent obesity in Fiji, including data on the prevalence of obesity [7], obesogenic behaviors [7], sociocultural influences [38,39] and prioritisation of obesity-prevention policies relating to the food environment [40,41]. Fiji prioritised 22 policies that were recommended to the NCD taskforce [41,42].…”

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

“…In the case of Pacific Islanders, she asserts that 'it is possible that both higher BMI and higher body satisfaction result from a greater acceptance of larger bodies and low levels of cultural stigma and fear of overweight' (Latner, Knight, and Illingworth 2011). Other studies throughout the Pacific concur with Latner's findings regarding greater body-size acceptance amongst Pacific Islanders, although those who have studied migrants to urban Pacific locations note that fat acceptance by Pacific Islanders diminishes with increasing exposure to dominant media messages for slimmer bodies (McCabe et al 2011). In addition, other scholars attest to the resistance to 'biopedagogies of obesity' that counter the 'fat-is-bad' paradigm of mainstream research and practice in Newfoundlander and Native American populations (McPhail 2013;Boisvert 2012).…”

Parents’ concerns regarding the growth characteristics of their adolescents: a qualitative inquiry in Iran

“…Most qualitative studies have described adolescents/adults’ experiences of obesity and body-image, and also adolescents’ perception of their body appearance and obesity and the same perception or views by the mothers/parents (Calzo et al, 2012; Lindelof et al, 2010; McCabe et al, 2011; Peyman et al, 2012; Pope et al, 2014; Sand, Emaus, & Lian, 2015; Shrewsbury et al, 2010; Spiller, 2009; Watt & Ricciardelli, 2012; Wills et al, 2006); also, a small number of studies have addressed the issue of height (Pope et al, 2014; Watt & Ricciardelli, 2012; Wills et al, 2006). The present study attempted to conduct a qualitative inquiry to understand the dimensions of an adolescent’s height/weight growth-based concerns among Iranian parents’ perspectives.…”