The chief executive of Auckland's South Seas Healthcare, Lemalu Silao Vaisola-Sefo, said about 14 percent of Pacific adults in New Zealand are obese - a number that remains stubbornly high.
Lemalu said there should be more discussion about the social factors impacting Pasifika families - such as housing, gambling and poverty.
"It's not just a health problem. Health is important, but you need to look at income and safety and security and everything else. It requires a whole lot of groups including families to come together and actually have one main goal.