Food, Health, and Development in the Pacific Islands: Policy Implications for Micronesia

Schoeffel, Penny (1992). "Food, Health, and Development in the Pacific Islands: Policy Implications for Micronesia". ISLA: A Journal of Micronesian Studies. 1 (2): 223–250. ISSN 1054-9390.

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Abstract: Rising incidences of noncommunicable diseases in Pacific island populations are linked to dietary change. Many factors are involved: urbanization, food aid, changing food preferences, economic modernization, the convenience of processed foods, the high price of traditional staples, problems of national food distribution and marketing, urban poverty, and changes in farming systems and land use. Some Pacific islands, notably the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshail Islands, have become dependent on imported food to the extent that there are negative implications for their trading balances and future economic development. The economic implications of food and nutrition problems have been given little prominence in the past, and governments have treated food and nutrition as a medical issue rather than a development problem. There is a need throughout the region, particularly in Micronesia, for household food security policy frameworks to be developed.