A major health threat is confronting Pacific Island nations as ten of the most obese nations in the world are in the Pacific. The nations of Tonga, American Samoa, Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Marshall Islands, and Federated States of Micronesia are named as the top ten nations from among 190 countries.
A recent study released by well-known medical journal, the Lancet has ranked Tonga number one worldwide as the country with the most women with obesity. The Lancet study shows that more than one billion people in the world are now living with obesity. 1500 researchers worldwide were involved in the project.
Overall, American Samoa is the most obese nation in the world followed by Tonga; Nauru and Samoa are not far behind.
The study found that 81.5% of Tongan women over the age of 20 are living with obesity, an increase of 23.3% from 1990. The obesity rates among children and adolescents worldwide increased four times from 1990 to 2022, while obesity rates among adults have more than doubled.
There was a time when the notion of “Big being beautiful” among Pacific Islanders was admirable, but in over 3 decades, “excessive bigness” or obesity (and diseases related to it) have become the number one killer among islanders. In Tonga for example, over 70% of deaths come from non-communicable diseases, almost all obesity related.
