title: Pacific Populations, Metabolic Disease and 'Just-So Stories': A Critique of the 'Thrifty Genotype' Hypothesis in Oceania.
abstract: Pacific populations have long been observed to suffer a high burden of metabolic disease, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and gout. The 'Thrifty Genotype' hypothesis has frequently been used to explain this high prevalence of disease. Here, the 'Thrifty Genotype' hypothesis and the evolutionary background of Pacific populations are examined. We question its relevance not only in the Pacific region but more generally. Not only has the hypothesis not been explicitly tested, but most archaeological and anthropological data from the Pacific fundamentally do not support its application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.|Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.|Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gosling
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Hallie R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.|Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matisoo-Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tony R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Merriman
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D006073:Gout / Q000235:genetics; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics; D044349:Oceania
keywords: Obesity; metabolic disease; polynesians; thrifty genes; type 2 diabetes