Retrospective ecological study demonstrates shifting food availability and rising beverage imports in Samoa, indicating an ongoing dietary transition toward energy-dense foods.
Key Points
To evaluate temporal trends in selected food-availability indicators and sugar-related imports in Samoa from 2010 to 2023.
Retrospective ecological time-series study assessing food availability (kcal/capita/day) from FAOSTAT and sugar/beverage imports (nominal USD) from the UN Comtrade Database between 2010 and 2023.
Trends and relationships were evaluated using percentage change, simple linear regression, and Pearson correlation analysis.
Root crop availability declined by 81.6% (β = −4.53 kcal/capita/day per year, p < 0.001), whereas vegetable-oil availability increased by 41.8% (β = 7.30 kcal/capita/day per year, p = 0.018) and sugar availability increased by 17.3%.
Non-alcoholic beverage import values grew by 241.0%, while sugar import values remained relatively stable over the study period.
Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant inverse association between root-crop availability and non-alcoholic beverage import value (r = −0.58, p = 0.037).