The Pacific Islands food composition tables

Shailesh Kumar, William Aalbersberg

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 of the region. The food composition data presented in this document are fundamental to food trade, agriculture policy development, nutrition education, and the setting/achieving of nutrition goals and guidelines.