Tongan PM encourages Pacific leaders to set weight-loss example

Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva announced in an interview with the Samoa Observer that he intends to promote a year long, weight loss competition among leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Nauru in September. 

Citizens of the Pacific nations have the highest obesity rates in the world. CIA World Factbook data reveal that in 2016 the ten most obese countries in the world—based on the adult prevalence rate—were Pacific island nations.

Nauru topped the list, with 61% of its adult population classified as obese (having a BMI of 30 or above); Tonga ranked seventh, with 48.2% of the adult population classed as obese.

Mr Pohiva expressed concern that existing initiatives are not making an impact and suggested he and his peers should lead by example: “Once the leaders are adapting to that mindset they would be determined to get their people on the same aspect and go from there,” he told the Samoa Observer.   

The replacement of traditional nutrient-rich food in favor of imported processed food has been blamed for the Pacific’s weight problem.

Susan L. Averett has written about obesity and its impact on labor market outcomes for IZA World of Labor: “Obesity threatens to become an increasing burden on all taxpayers as a result of the associated higher medical costs, lower productivity and wages, and reduced probability of finding employment,” she says. 

Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, heart ailments, stroke, hypertension, arthritis, sleep apnea, and asthma and Averett comments that “many governments have already determined that the health care costs of obesity alone provide a rationale for intervention.”

Suggested policies include taxes on foods that are major contributors to higher calorie intake, a requirement for restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus, revising school lunches to make them more nutritious, and mandating physical education classes in schools.   

“Governments and employers have a compelling interest in finding ways to reduce obesity levels and discrimination against obese workers,” she concludes.

Read more articles on health and well-being and discrimination