Pohnpei Selected as 12th Case Study in Global Health Project

by Dr. Lois Englberger

An exciting project documenting and promoting the traditional foods of Pohnpei is soon to start in the village of Mand, Madolenihmw, as coordinated by the Island Food Community of Pohnpei and local agencies. This is in collaboration with the Centre of Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), led by Professor Harriet Kuhnlein, McGill University, Canada, who visited Pohnpei March 5-11, 2005. Mand was selected as it fit the criteria for the project (a rural village of around 500 in population, a close-knit community, and fairly easy to access).

Professor Kuhnlein explained why she became involved in this project, saying: "All over the world indigenous peoples are facing similar problems. Traditional food systems are being endangered along with the shift towards consuming processed foods." She further explained that it is important to first look at a community and understand its foods and to identify the foods having the most potential for health benefits and to then promote them.

Phase 1, the documentation of the traditional food system, will start in Mand in May and should be completed by August. All the foods and the varieties of those foods will be documented, along with food preferences, food costs, and a dietary study and assessment of the percentage of the energy derived from local compared to imported foods. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has provided funds for Phase 1.

Phase 2 will be a two-year intervention (using a mixture of methods) promoting those foods with the highest potential health benefits and greatest acceptability. This is to start in September.

The overall purpose of the project is to increase the production and consumption of locally grown foods and to improve health. Certain indicators of health will be assessed at the onset of the project and at the end in order to evaluate the impact of the project.

Professor Kuhnlein was very impressed with the interest in Pohnpei and the potential for success. She said, "Everything is here that you need!"

Podis Pedrus, traditional leader of Mand, said, "I like this kind of project where we study first the foods in the community and then to start with the intervention." The Governor of Pohnpei, Johnny P. David, has given his full support to the project, along with a number of other agencies, including Pohnpei Agriculture, Pohnpei Department of Health, College of Micronesia-FSM, Pohnpei Historical Preservation, Conservation Society of Pohnpei, and the FSM Department of Health, Education, and Social Affairs.

Professor Kuhnlein explained that the other case studies in the project include groups in Canada, Peru, Colombia, Japan, Kenya, India, Nigeria, and Thailand. Some successes have already been achieved, for example, with the Inuit group in Canada, where diabetes prevalence is starting to decrease.