Participants of a walk against Diabetes and for general fitness around Nauru airport

Obesity is a major issue for the

Republic of Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kir ...

. The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) has estimated that 94.5% of Nauruans are

overweight Being overweight or fat is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. , excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with mo ...

obese Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

, with an obesity rate of 71.7%. Nauru is known to have the highest rates of obese inhabitants worldwide. The average

body weight Human body weight is a person's mass or weight. Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of weight without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoes or heavy accessor ...

among Nauruans is approximately . Nauru has an average BMI between 34 and 35.

Causes

There are multiple factors contributing to obesity in Nauru. Since the 1980s, Nauruans have led a

sedentary lifestyle Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like socia ...

with an unhealthful diet, contributing to "the worst health conditions in the Pacific region." The historical food sources of Nauruans were fishing and gardening. The traditional Nauruan diet was primarily composed of

marine fish Saltwater fish, also called marine fish or sea fish, are fish that live in seawater. Saltwater fish can swim and live alone or in a large group called a school. Saltwater fish are very commonly kept in aquariums for entertainment. Many saltwater f ...

, fruits,

root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. Although botany distinguishes true roots (such as taproots and tuberous roots) from non-roots (such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers, although some contain both hypocotyl a ...

s, and

coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

. Nauru gained independence in 1968 due to an increase in economic growth from mining activities. The garnered profits were distributed amongst the citizens, leading to an outflux in citizen labor. The

Government of Nauru The politics of Nauru take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nauru is the head of government of the executive branch. Legislative power is vested in both the government and t ...

and WHO stated that the import of western food significantly reduced the existing culture of fishing and gardening, which led to mineral depletion and economical downturn of the nation. Approximately 90% of the land area of Nauru is covered with phosphate deposits, with the majority strip-mined and non-arable. This has led to Nauruan reliance on processed food, high in both sugar and fat, imported from large Oceanian countries such as Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

professor and South Pacific researcher Clive Moore stated that obesity is mistakenly seen as a sign of wealth in Nauru.

Consequence

Nauru has the highest rate of adult

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

worldwide. The

International Diabetes Federation The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organization of over 230 national diabetes associations in more than 160 countries and territories. The Federation has been leading the global diabetes community since 1950. It is headqua ...

(IDF) identified 31% of Nauruans as diabetic, with rates as high as 45% among individuals aged from 55 to 64 years. It is a small island country with the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the world. 71% of the population is obese. 97% of men are overweight; the percentage of women who are overweight is only slightly lower. As more and more money went to healthcare, less went to prevention, and this led to a cycle. Nauru also suffered from poor healthcare, worsening the problem. With much of the landscape destroyed from phosphate farming, Nauru was forced to import food resources from

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

countries, leading to a sharp increase in consumption of processed food. With healthy food depleted from the island, obesity rates continued to climb. Due to the cultural association of obesity with wealth, many Nauruans began to view a sedentary lifestyle as preferable to one of hard work and physical exercise, further worsening the crisis.

Efforts to treat obesity

Nauruan health authorities have developed several measures to reduce obesity, such as advising people to walk around the perimeter of the

Nauru International Airport Nauru International Airport is the sole airport in the Republic of Nauru. The airport connects to other island nations, served by Nauru's national airline, Nauru Airlines. History The airstrip was built during the World War II Japanese occup ...

, which measures to in distance. Additionally, exercise sessions and sports are regularly organised.

References

{{Oceania topic, Obesity in

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

Health in Nauru Obesity in the Pacific

Causes

Consequence

Efforts to treat obesity

See also

References