Modeling Future Patterns of Obesity in American Samoa

This presentation describes future modeling of obesity trends based on traditional and modern food habits in American Samoa.

1. Modeling Future Patterns of Obesity In AMerican Samoa Isabela Fraguada SUS 201 Professor Shamin Sahebzada 5/13/24

2. Obesity in Samoa Samoa has faced booming obesity rates since the end of WWII Post WWII Era led to introduction of highly processed wartime foods → prized for their fattiness Food culture in Samoa highly prioritized → feeding families, “lolo” food and gifts, etc. Imported foods now → cheap, convenient, tasty

3. Research Question How will Patterns of obesity in American samoa present in the next 35 years with intervention and without?

4. Why Model Obesity in Samoa? A Systematic Issue → Problem stems from various aspects: cultural, economic, social Affects other aspects of Samoan society → non communicable disease prevalence, economy, etc. Model can help with comparison, viewing various different outputs, etc.

5. SIX STEPS OF MODELING

6. FINAL MODEL

7. OUTPUT GRAPHS

8. COMPARISON TO HISTORICAL DATA

9. Summary Economic and social interventions helped to minimize obesity rates over the 35 year period Alone, these intervention are effective, but have some drawbacks When implemented together, methods of intervention are most effective, in ideal conditions.

10. Citations Lin, S, T Naseri, C Linhart, S Morrell, R Taylor, S T McGarvey, D J Magliano, and P Zimmet. “Trends in Diabetes and Obesity in Samoa over 35 Years, 1978-2013.” Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, August 25, 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5411261/. Hillyer, Garrett. “Case: Food in Sāmoa.” Food Studies: Matter, Meaning, Movement, February 28, 2022. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/foodstudies/chapter/food-in-samoa/. Lameko V. Does Samoa Have Adequate Policies to Reduce Obesity and Obesity-Related Disease? Cureus. 2022 Mar 16;14(3):e23239. doi: 10.7759/cureus.23239. PMID: 35449683; PMCID: PMC9012561. Afele-Fa’amuli, Salei’a, Whitney Katirai, and Mark Dignan. “Effectiveness of a Pilot Community Physical Activity and Nutrition Intervention in American Samoa.” Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 2009. https://journals.calstate.edu/cjhp/article/download/1317/1173. Emma Marie Heard, Leveti Auvaa, Brooke A. Conway, Culture X: addressing barriers to physical activity in Samoa, Health Promotion International, Volume 32, Issue 4, August 2017, Pages 734–742, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dav119 Walby, Emilee, Amanda C Jones, Moira Smith, Elisiva Na’ati, Wendy Snowdon, and Andrea M Teng. “Food Tax Policies in Pacific Island Countries and Territories: Systematic Policy Review.” Public Health Nutrition, December 21, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10830374/.