American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 5, 260-273, Copyright © 1957 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Dietary Survey on Rarotonga, Cook Islands

II. FOOD CONSUMPTION IN TWO VILLAGES

¹ From the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

A dietary survey of 308 Polynesians was made on Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Forty-one families contained 268 of the subjects and the remaining 40 people were students in a missionary training school. There were six villages on the island and the number of individuals studied represented 30 per cent of the population of the two villages in which they lived. It is believed that the present report indicates the long-term average nutrient intakes of the Rarotongans today.

The evidence presented showed that 60 to 95 per cent of the families consumed less than 75 per cent of the National Research Council's recommended intakes of calcium and riboflavin, and one-third of the families were in the same low category for vitamin A. The mission students were found to be consuming less than 75 per cent of the amounts of calories, protein, iron, riboflavin, and niacin that were recommended for them. The intakes of all other calculated nutrients seemed more satisfactory for both groups.

It was found that families having no wage earner were neither better nor worse nutritionally than were the families who did have a weekly cash income. Family size influenced the dietary status of the households, i.e., the smaller the family the better its dietary rating.

Weight measurements indicated that obesity (or overweight) may be a problem on Rarotonga; however, there are grounds for believing that exceptional muscularity rather than excessive adiposity accounted for much of the heaviness encountered in adult Rarotongans.

There has been insufficient study of physiologic requirements under tropical conditions of poor sanitation, where there is an increased need for high resistance to diseases of parasitic and infectious origins. In addition, too little is known about the nutrient composition and biologic availability of food stuffs commonly consumed by Maoris. For these reasons, it is important that the comparisons made between nutrient intakes and standards be regarded as tentative. The adequacy of a diet is determined in the final analysis by the health of the population consuming it, and it can be said, on the basis of the present report, that within their short life spans, Rarotongans do not show overt signs of suffering from widespread malnutrition.