Vaevae Manava: Context and Perception of Food Security for Tongan Mothers and Health Workers
type: CreativeWork
description: Food security refers to the “ability of individuals, households and communities to acquire appropriate and nutritious food on a regular and reliable basis by socially acceptable means”. In 2000, interviews with the first cohort of South Auckland mothers of new born babies going into the Pacific Island Families (PIF) longitudinal study, 43.6% of 1376 Pacific Island mothers (n=607) reported that their families’ either ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ ran out of food. Factors associated with this state of food insecurity included “lack of money”, being of Tongan and Niuean ethinicities and having two or more children in the family. This high prevalence of food insecurity was derived from an interviewer-led questionnaire, and was the starting point for my wanting to know more about and gaining a better understanding of Pacific -and specifically Tongan- perspectives and lived experiences of food security. This study explored the perceptions and context of food security for seven Tongan health workers and seven Tongan mothers living in South Auckland today. Initial discussions revealed that there were misinterpretations about the meaning of the English words “food security” and the Tongan translation of “fakalato – having enough” and that the indicative questions used had to be shaped and presented in a way that avoided misinterpretation. A blend of Delphi and Talanoa ways of communicating was integrated into two rounds of interviews. The interviews were in Tongan and English, transcribed in Tongan and English, entered into the NVivo8 software system and thematically analysed. This thesis also contains English back translations for the Tongan transcriptions. Three main themes relating to food security emerged. These were knowledge and understanding, family income, and the influence of acculturation. The experiential examples elicited highlighted that Tongan socio-cultural ways of being were a key factor underlining causes of food security and ways of dealing with food insecurity fo…
abstract: Food security refers to the “ability of individuals, households and communities to acquire appropriate and nutritious food on a regular and reliable basis by socially acceptable means”. In 2000, interviews with the first cohort of South Auckland mothers of new born babies going into the Pacific Island Families (PIF) longitudinal study, 43.6% of 1376 Pacific Island mothers (n=607) reported that their families’ either ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ ran out of food. Factors associated with this state of food insecurity included “lack of money”, being of Tongan and Niuean ethinicities and having two or more children in the family. This high prevalence of food insecurity was derived from an interviewer-led questionnaire, and was the starting point for my wanting to know more about and gaining a better understanding of Pacific -and specifically Tongan- perspectives and lived experiences of food security. This study explored the perceptions and context of food security for seven Tongan health workers and seven Tongan mothers living in South Auckland today. Initial discussions revealed that there were misinterpretations about the meaning of the English words “food security” and the Tongan translation of “fakalato – having enough” and that the indicative questions used had to be shaped and presented in a way that avoided misinterpretation. A blend of Delphi and Talanoa ways of communicating was integrated into two rounds of interviews. The interviews were in Tongan and English, transcribed in Tongan and English, entered into the NVivo8 software system and thematically analysed. This thesis also contains English back translations for the Tongan transcriptions. Three main themes relating to food security emerged. These were knowledge and understanding, family income, and the influence of acculturation. The experiential examples elicited highlighted that Tongan socio-cultural ways of being were a key factor underlining causes of food security and ways of dealing with food insecurity fo…
author: 'Ahio, Litiuingi Lose
keywords: Food insecurity, Delphi-Talanoa inquiry, Tongan mothers and health workers, Vaevae manava, Concepts of sharing, Pacific Island Families study, Food security
date published: 2011
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:03Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University