Childhood Obesity in the Pacific: Challenges and Opportunities.

Ravuvu, Amerita; Waqa, Gade

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Childhood obesity is increasing substantially in many Pacific island countries and poses an urgent and serious challenge. The Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations and the NCD Roadmap created at the request of the Pacific Finance and Economic Ministers identify prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases as core priorities. Among the various risk factors responsible for the development of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), overweight and obesity are particularly of concern with the potential to negate many of the health benefits that have contributed to increased life expectancy. With the increase in childhood obesity across the region, it has become apparent that surveillance data remains a challenge; however, it is essential to inform the development of effective policies and strategies to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity in the Pacific region. RECENT FINDINGS The paper highlights the paucity of childhood obesity surveillance data available in the Pacific region and how the absence of a standardised tool to collect this data makes it difficult to do comparative analysis between countries. Drawing on a global protocol and identifying the gaps that currently exist in the region, the paper aims to highlight opportunities via which childhood obesity surveillance data can be improved to monitor better childhood obesity across the Pacific region.