Pacific New Zealanders battle against obesity

Media Release

Pacific New Zealanders battle against obesity

26 March, 2009

Food is central to all Pacific cultures, which is why Diabetes New Zealand is concerned about the findings of the Obesity Action Coalition report: Food Security for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand.
The report says that only 46.6% of Pacific households with children stated that they could always afford to eat properly, compared to 86.1% of New Zealand European and other culture households.

Diabetes New Zealand president Mike Smith says “that in the face of these alarming statistics, actions must be taken to prevent the onslaught of diabetes in the Pacific Island Community.”
Lesieli O’Brien, diabetes nurse for Diabetes New Zealand Pacific Wellington, has had success with the Wellington Pacific community in advising and talking to them about how they can make their lives longer and improve their health.

“Food is central to all Pacific cultures. It is the culture and without the food there is no social involvement”, she says. “My message is ‘cut down the fat and the sugar content in the food’, but put in a way that people can accept.”

The report says that Pacific people are two and a half times more likely to be obese than the general population. Obesity often leads to Type 2 diabetes, and obesity numbers are rising in the Pacific community along with the number of people developing Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes New Zealand and Diabetes New Zealand Pacific advocate portion control, the healthy plate, with half in vegetables, as a key to success.

Ends

There are 21,000 Pacific people with type 2 diabetes in New Zealand. Statistic from MOH 2009

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