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MODERNIZATION AND THE DIET OF ADULTS ON RAROTONGA, THE COOK ISLANDS

2002; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0367-020291909741

1543-5237

Stanley J. Ulijaszek,

Fatty Acid Research and Health

Populations in the Pacific region have shown a clear rise in overweight and obesity across the second part of the twentieth century, this increase being attributed to economic modernization and the dietary change that has gone with it. This study examined the relationships between socioeconomic factors and dietary intakes of adult Cook Islanders living a largely modernized lifestyle on Rarotonga, the Cook Islands. A cross‐sectional volunteer sample of 379 Cook Islanders aged 22 to 86 years estimated their habitual food intake by short food frequency questionnaire. Of the modernization variables examined, the number of years of education was most consistently associated with diet, male Cook Islanders with more years of education having a lower frequency of consumption of traditional staple foods than those with fewer years of education. Females with more years of education had an apparently higher frequency of alcohol consumption relative to those with fewer years of education. Adults born on Rarotonga ate...