Keywords

community health, transcultural health, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, obesity, body mass index, demographics

Abstract

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) are people with genetic origins in Hawaii, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (Hixson, Hepler, & Kim, 2012). NHOPI prevalence of overweight or obesity is among the highest in the world. Nauru, a Pacific Island nation, is considered the most obese country in the world with an overweight and obesity prevalence of 93% (WHO, 2011). Hawaii’s overall prevalence of overweight or obesity is 52.1%, but the prevalence for Native Hawaiian residents is 69.6% (Hawaii Department of Health, 2011). Inasmuch as NHOPIs are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. (Hixson et al., 2012) and their overweight and obesity prevalence is high, the U.S. as well as Pacific Island nations must be concerned with their obesity and related health care issues.

Original Publication Citation

Journal of Transcultural Nursing

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2014

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/3443

Publisher

SAGE

Language

English

College

Nursing

Included in

Nursing Commons

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