Prevalence and Determinant Factors of Overweight and Obesity among Pacific People: A Systematic Review Study

Globally obesity and overweight are the fifth leading cause of death with an astonishing 2.8 million adult
deaths each year. Pacific countries recorded to have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity. This
syntactic review is aimed to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity and also the contributing
factors in the Pacific countries. Eight databases which were used more frequently in previous studies in the
field of overweight and obesity waschosen. Relevant key terms were used to search in selected databases
using AND and OR. All types of studies were published from January 1st 2000 to January 1st 2017 and in the
English language were included in the search. The information related to the studies, population, methods,
and results were extracted from the final steps of search and were included in the data extraction sheet. A
descriptive analysis was used and the results were reported as percentage in the form of tables. Thirty one
studies were analysed. Around two thirds of studies were conducted after 2010 and more than half of the
studies were conducted as community based. Obesity prevalence was ranged from 6.1% to 73.9%. On the
base of gender, female obesity was ranged from 13.8% to 73.9% and male obesity range was from 18.7% to
55.1%.Sixteen studies (51.6%) reported on dietary factors associated with overweight and obesity which
followed by physical activity (12.9%) and television viewing (9.68%). The high prevalence of overweigh and
obesity reported in this study shows the need for an urgent preventive action taken by health care and policy
decision makers. Lifestyle related factors need to be considered and interventions focusing on Pacific
culture and beliefs need to be taken account in changing healthy lifestyle.