Let's Go Local - Guidelines for Promoting Pacific Island Food
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Over the past decades, food and dietary patterns in Pacific Island Countries have undergone significant changes. Traditional diets consisting of fresh fish, root crops, breadfruit and local fruits and vegetables have been increasingly replaced by imported, often highly processed foods such as white rice, flour, instant noodles, canned foods, fatty low grade meats and soft drinks with a high sugar content. At the same time, a more sedentary lifestyle is becoming common among many Pacific Islander s As a result, Pacific Island Countries now face a wave of dietary and lifestyle-related health problems. Chronic non-communicable diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer are now the main causes of death, illness and disability among adults in the Pacific Island Countries. Furthermore, countries are burdened by micro-nutrient deficiencies related to a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet, such as vitamin A deficiency and anaemia. There is evidence that the tradit ional diet, lifestyles and food systems of the Pacific protected people in the past against these health problems. Food composition data provides scientific evidence of the rich nutrient content and health benefits of the traditional foods, including breadfruit, banana, taro, yam, cassava and sweet potato, as well as coconut, fish and seafood, and various fruits and vegetables.