• Po-Jen Lin, Maria Soledad Hershey, Tai-Lin Irene Lee, Chih-Wei Shih, Selotia Tausi, Vine Sosene, Pauke P Maani, Malo Tupulaga, Yu-Tien Hsu, Chia-Rui Chang, Stephanie M Wu, José Francisco López-Gil, Lois I Tang, Shi-Chian Shiau, Yuan-Hung Lo, and Chih-Fu Wei.
• Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), Taipei, Taiwan; Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Department of Medicine, Nuvance Health Danbury Hospital, Danbury, Connecticut, USA.
• Nutrition. 2024 Sep 1; 125: 112488112488.

AimThe aim of this study was to analyze temporal trends of food consumption patterns, attitudes, and health-related knowledge in Tuvalu, a small Pacific Island country facing the triple threat of obesity, climate change, and food insecurity.MethodsTwo waves of the COMmunity-based Behavior and Attitude (COMBAT) survey were conducted in 2020 and 2022. Descriptive characteristics of changes in obesity proportion, food intake, and sociodemographic factors were assessed. Additionally, this study also integrates individual climate data utilizing satellite-based prediction models, and estimates historical temperature, precipitation, and sea level trends among all islands in Tuvalu.ResultsThe study revealed a high obesity proportion among adults (69.5% in 2020, 73.2% in 2022) and an increase in the percentage of adolescents with a high waist circumference. Variations in food intake were also observed between the two waves of the survey.ConclusionsThe data collected in the COMBAT study provides valuable insights for future epidemiological research to elucidate the associations and causal relationships between climate change, food security, and non-communicable diseases in Tuvalu.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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