The Pacific Islands food composition tables

by Shailesh Kumar

Traditional Pacific Island diets were diverse and nutritionally appropriate. In recent decades Pacific Islanders have experienced many changes in lifestyle and diet. Most of the dietary changes have not been for the better, and have contributed to the burden of malnutrition throughout the Pacific. The vast natural biodiversity of food plants and animals represent an asset that is sadly neglected. Food composition activities provide a focus on the nutrient content of individual cultivars, wild and cultivated, that will add to the impetus to preserve its rich diversity for the food security...