Teevale Tasileta
School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ.
Pac Health Dialog. 2011 Mar;17(1):33-53.
The stimulus behind most of the early investigations into Pacific or Polynesian peoples' body image, particularly those that looked to compare with Western or Westernised groups, is the assumption that Pacific peoples valued and therefore desired very large bodies, and in relation to obesity-risk, this is a problematic cultural feature to have. This may be driven by popular anecdotes which are captured in the title of one such study "Do Polynesians still believe that big is beautiful?" To the author's knowledge, no research in Pacific peoples' body image has been conducted in the New Zealand (NZ) context by Pacific researchers. This study makes a contribution to the literature gap and more importantly through an emic viewpoint. A critique of the current literature is provided below which calls into question the initial catalyst behind earlier investigations which have led to the perpetuation of particular types of body image research for Pacific groups. Using mixed-methods, the specific objective of this study was to describe the behaviours, beliefs and values of Pacific adolescents and their parents, that are related to body image. A self-completion questionnaire was administered to 2495 Pacific students who participated in the New Zealand arm of the Obesity Prevention In Communities (OPIC) project. Sixty-eight people (33 adolescents and 35 parents) from 30 Pacific households were interviewed in the qualitative phase of the study. This study found Pacific adolescents and their parents did not desire obesity-sized bodies but desired a range of average-sized bodies that met their Pacific-defined view of health. It is not clear whether body image research makes any meaningful contribution to obesity prevention for Pacific people, given the cultural-bounded nature of the concept "body image" which sits communication and understanding between obesity interventionists and all healthcare workers generally and Pacific communities. For obesity interventions to be acceptable and useful for Pacific people, they must be responsive to the beliefs and desires of these communities.
早期对太平洋或波利尼西亚人群身体形象进行的大多数调查背后的刺激因素，尤其是那些旨在与西方或西方化群体进行比较的调查，是这样一种假设：太平洋人群重视并因此渴望非常庞大的体型，而就肥胖风险而言，这是一种有问题的文化特征。这可能是由一些流行的轶事所驱动的，其中一项此类研究的标题就体现了这一点，即“波利尼西亚人仍然认为身材高大就是美吗？”据作者所知，在新西兰背景下，没有太平洋研究人员对太平洋人群的身体形象进行过研究。本研究弥补了文献空白，更重要的是从主位视角进行了研究。以下对当前文献进行了批判，质疑了早期调查背后的最初催化剂，正是这种催化剂导致了针对太平洋群体的特定类型身体形象研究的延续。本研究采用混合方法，具体目标是描述与身体形象相关的太平洋青少年及其父母的行为、信念和价值观。对参与“社区肥胖预防”（OPIC）项目新西兰部分的2495名太平洋学生进行了自填式问卷调查。在研究的定性阶段，对来自30个太平洋家庭的68人（33名青少年和35名父母）进行了访谈。本研究发现，太平洋青少年及其父母并不渴望肥胖体型，而是渴望一系列符合他们太平洋人所定义的健康观的中等体型。鉴于“身体形象”这一概念具有文化局限性，它阻碍了肥胖干预者与所有医护人员以及太平洋社区之间的沟通和理解，所以目前尚不清楚身体形象研究是否对太平洋人群的肥胖预防有任何有意义的贡献。为了使肥胖干预措施对太平洋人群来说是可接受且有用的，这些措施必须回应这些社区的信念和愿望。
