title: Cultural elaborations of obesity - fattening practices in Pacific societies.
abstract: Fattening rituals in Pacific societies are examined within a discussion of the cultural aspects of obesity as a disease of modernisation. Those rituals contributed to a strong aesthetic value of large body size and light skin, while also incorporating the symbolic value of food. They may have enhanced survival value of a genetic potential in the face of irregular diet. Today with a more regular diet available only the negative aspects of large body size prevail.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Anthropology, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Pollock