A recently launched report on the Food security and food consumption has revealed a high rate of adult obesity observed in Samoa of almost 46 per cent in 2016.

The report: “Food Security and Food Consumption in Samoa” is based on the Food consumption patterns in the Household-Income-and Expenditure Survey (H.I.E.S.) 2018. 

It was published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (F.A.O.) and Samoa Bureau of Statistics and was officially launched last Friday.

According to findings of the report, the high rate of adult obesity observed in Samoa (almost 46 per cent in 2016) points to access to an amount of dietary energy, which is well above the minimum amount of dietary energy needed by the population to be in good health and to be socially active.

Furthermore, the survey results are confirmed by the high number of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (N.C.D.s) in Samoa.

And access to enough dietary energy is not an issue in Samoa, as health problems are mainly the consequence of the quality of the dietary energy that is being consumed, rather than the quantity.

Further analysis of the 2018 H.I.E.S. shows that only 13 food products contribute to 80 per cent of the total dietary energy consumed.

These include four of the products: coconut brown (18 per cent), rice (11 per cent), taro (9 per cent) and chicken quarters (8 per cent) contribute 46 per cent of the total energy consumed.

On average, a Samoan spends $5.4 tala a day to purchase food which corresponds to 45 per cent of their total expenditure. Purchases account for 62 per cent of the dietary energy consumed and 30 per cent comes from own production. 

Additionally more than 90 per cent of the caloric intake comes from sweets, sugar, cereals, meat and fish that are purchased, while from own production, three quarters of the calories are from tubers, plantains, nuts and fruits.

While cereals such as rice or flour, or foods such as oils and sugar are very cheap sources of dietary energy, as it costs less than $1 to get 1 000 kcal from these products. To get the same amount of dietary energy from fish, milk or other dairy products would cost more than $5.

“The variety of foods which households can have access to is uneven throughout Samoa. In Apia, 20 food products contribute to 80 per cent of the dietary energy consumed. 

“This number falls to 10 products in Savai’i. Coconut, taro, pastry of all kinds and rice represent half of the calories consumed in Savai’i, while rice, chicken, coconut, pastry, sugar and bread represent 50 per cent in Apia.”

Yet, Savai’i is the region with the highest prevalence of food insecurity in Samoa, with more than one in three households being food insecure in comparison to less than one in five households in Apia.

In terms of essential nutrients, the Samoan diet is rich in fats that, on average, contribute 34 per cent of the total amount of energy consumed, which is very close to the upper limit of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) recommended norms for a balanced diet.

Proteins, on average, contribute 11 per cent and carbohydrates to 55 per cent, both of which are close to the lower limit of the WHO recommended norms.