By RNZ More than half of Pacific children in New Zealand have been found to fall into the category of obese or overweight. In an article published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, author Velia Man pulled together the evidence from international studies as well as local research. She told RNZ that Pacific children were the focus of studies that they looked at in the article, and the article summarised the latest data in the New Zealand Health Survey .
“What this found is that Pacific children currently have the highest obesity rates out of all ethnic groups,” she said. Man said: “51% of Pacific children currently fall into the category of obese or overweight - which is over 70,000 Pacific children.” When compared to non-Pacific children, Man pointed out that the obesity rate among Pacific children is 2.
6 times higher, which highlights an important issue of health inequity . On the challenges that Pacific families faced, Man said in research in the past few decades, it was recognised that obesity is primarily driven by the environment lived in, which has such a huge role in driving behaviours and the behaviours of Pacific families. “And, unfortunately, we are surrounded by what we call an “obesogenic environment”, where unhealthy foods are not only cheaper, but also widely available and heavily promoted.
“Unfortunately, we have seen that Pacific families have greater exposure to this ‘obesogenic environment’,” she said. In an example, Man pointed out th.
