Interesting that the Maori and Pacific rates are pretty much the inverse of the smoking graph in the post below.
Calling Pacific people 'obese' is problematic in my view. If I go into the local supermarket just before school I see lots of Pacific girls and lots of Asian girls. The Pacific girls are often very tall - tower over me - they appear what I would call big-boned, and they ooze health and vitality. The Asian girls are generally more petite, and slighter in build, but also look comfortable and happy in the bodies they have.
Do you think if we swapped a couple around at birth and had the Pacific girl raised in the Asian family and vice versa they would look very different by age 16?
1 comment:
I take some comfort from the fact that based on BMI McCaw, Dane Coles and Victor Vito are rolypolies who are officially obese and that Julian Savea who is perpetually struggling with his weight is merely overweight by BMI measurement.
Mind you, Charlie Faumuina is heading towards morbidly obese and Kevin Mealamu likewise so yes.. no question PI are in bad trouble :)
Back in the day I was a distinctly chubby Pakeha playing TH prop at about 83kg with a BMI of about 25 and 20-40 kg lighter than todays models.. so BMI is a slightly dangerous weapon in the hands of a statistician when it comes to studying a range of human types.
Anyway.. I tend to question whether Maori BMI, history of drinking and smoking is as reliable guide to long term health and longevity as we seem to believe.. I think culture has a big role to play and that Brown kids coming through the Charter Schools will have better health outcomes and longer lives.
JC
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