‘Etita,

‘I he ngaahi uike kuo maliu atuu, na’e lahi ‘a e talanga’i ‘o e lipooti ‘ae BBC fekau’aki mo e fika 1 ‘a e kakai tangata Tongaa ‘i he fu’u sisinoo (obese) kae fika 2 ‘a Ha’amoa, pea fika 1 ‘a e kakai fefine Ha’amoaa kae fika 2 ‘a Tonga ni, ‘i mamani. Ko e ma’u’anga fakamatala ‘e taha ‘oku pehee ai ‘oku 70% ‘a e kakai fefine Tongaa pea 50% ‘a e kakai tangata Tongaa ‘oku fu’u sisino, pea ko e 80% ‘o e kakai lalahi ‘o Tonga ni ‘oku sino lahi (overweight).    

‘Oku pulusi foki ‘e he Wikipedia ia ko Nauru ‘oku fika 1 he fu’u sisino taha ‘i mamanii, hoko ‘a Federated States of Micronesia, pea Cook Islands pea fika 4 ‘a Tonga ni.

Ko e me’afua ‘oku ma’u mei ai ‘a e ngaahi fika ’i ‘olungaa ko e Body Mass Index (BMI), pea ko e ta’u nai ‘eni ‘e 200 ‘a hono ngaue’aki ‘i mamani ko e faka’ilonga (marker) fakaofiofi ke tala vave  pe ‘oku mo’ui lelei ha taha pe ‘ikai. Ko e BMI ‘oku ma’u ia meihe fua ‘o e mamafa ‘o ’ota ‘i he kilokalami ‘o vahevahe ‘aki ia ‘a e ‘square’ ‘o hoto ma’olunga (‘i he mita). ‘Oku pehee ‘oku te mo’ui lelei pee kapau ko hoto BMI ‘oku 18.5 -24.9 (normal range), sino lahi (overweight) kapau ‘oku 25 -29.9, pea ‘oku te fu’u sisino (obese) kapau ‘oku 30 pe lahi ange pea ko e faka’iloanga ia ‘oku ‘ikai ke te mo’ui lelei.

Kuo ‘osi pulusi foki ‘i he uike ni ‘i he International Journal of Obesity (online) ‘a e ‘study’ ko e fekumi ‘a e kau ‘psychologists’ (Tomiyama et al) meihe University of California, Los Angeles (US), fekau’aki mo e BMI pea mo e mo’ui leleii ‘a e kakai US meihe 2005 ki he 2012.

Meihe ‘enau ‘analaiso ‘o e ngaahi fakamatala BMI pea nau fakafehoanaki mo e ngaahi sivi mo’ui lelei kehe ‘o e kakai tatau ‘e lau mano, hangee, ko honau ‘blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol mo e triglyceride levels’ na’a nau pehe ai ko e 47.4% (pe kakai ‘e 34.4 miliona) ‘o e kakai sino lahi ‘i he US (overweight) pea mo e kakai ‘e 19.8 miliona ‘oku pehee ‘oku fu’u sisino ‘oku nau mo’ui lelei pe kinautolu ia.  Ka ‘oku ‘ova he 30% (pe 20.7 miliona) ‘a e kakai ‘oku ‘i he ‘normal range’ ka ‘oku ‘ikai te nau mo’ui lelei kinautolu ia. ‘Oku ‘ova he kakai ‘e 2 miliona (pe 15%) ‘o e kakai kotoa ‘o e US ‘oku ‘very obese’ (BMI ‘ova he 35) ka ‘oku nau kei mo’ui lelei pe mo kinautolu ia.

Ko e lesoni mahu’inga ‘oku ‘omai ‘e he fekumi ni pea ketau tokanga kiaii, ke te kai me’akai fe’unga mo fakatupu mo’ui lelei ma’upee mo fa’a fakamalohisino pea ‘oua ‘e lahi tangutu pe tokotokoto, tuku e ifi tapakaa mo e inu ‘o e ‘olokaholoo. Ko e mamafa hoto sinoo mo e ma’olunga pe ma’ulalo ‘a hoto BMI ‘oku malava pee ke takihala’i ‘a ‘ete fakakaukauu pea ‘oku totonu kete tokanga ma’upee, pea ‘oua ‘e lumoluma’i ‘a e kau sisinoo, na’a ‘osi angee, taa koee ‘oku nau mo’ui lelei ange kinautolu ‘ia kita ‘oku sino lelei pea ‘i he ‘natural range’ ’a hoto BMI.

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