Addressing Cultural Barriers to Enhance the Promotion of Healthy Eating within the Samoan Community

Abstract

An abundance of statistical information verifies Pacific people’s health is declining, with poor food choices being identified as a major contributing factor. The diversity of issues surrounding Pacific people’s lifestyles, such as their lower socio-economic status and cultural values, add further complications to improving their health. This research, Addressing Cultural Barriers to Enhance the Promotion of Healthy Eating within the Samoan Community, takes an holistic and non-medical approach to exploring the underlying issues behind poor food choice, by seeking knowledge from 10 paramount chiefs and elder church ministers in Aotearoa/New Zealand and 10 in Samoa. The leaders that I selected from New Zealand included four elder church ministers and six paramount chiefs. Those who were selected from Samoa included five elder church ministers and five paramount chiefs. They were all over fifty years of age. The research population is considered elite in the Samoan community because of their status as paramount leaders. In fa’a-Samoa (Samoan culture and way of life), when serious matters occur in the aiga (family) or community, paramount leaders must be consulted in order to solve the problem. As a woman researcher, consultation with these paramount leaders within the context of this study was not an easy task. Knowledge is precious and Pacific people tend to hold on to it rather than share it, and the research topic may be viewed by the participants as taboo and delicate. Therefore, careful consideration was given to an appropriate approach to retrieve the knowledge. Grounded Theory was chosen as the most appropriate methodological stance for the research. In addition, talanoa (story telling dialogue, discussion) was integrated into the Grounded Theory approach to collect data; the rationale of employing these complementary approaches being discussed in the thesis. Relevant to this study is the debate around the issue of an insider and outsider in the research context. As a Pacific researcher who researched her own community, the experience of being an insider as well as an outsider is explored. A key finding was that there is nothing wrong with fa’a-Samoa it is the practicing of the culture that is a problem. The dynamic of fa’a-Samoa and its critical impact on Samoan people’s health is discussed and recommendations for further research and formulation of strategies are made.