Pacific populations have been long observed to suffer a high burden of metabolic disease, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and gout. Social and economic changes since the end of WWII have impacted diet, activity levels, and behavioral changes faster than human evolution can accommodate the new demands these shifts place on biological systems. In critique of the ‘Thrifty Genotype’ hypothesis, this presentation by Sela Panapasa of the University of Michigan Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research systematically examines how the changing demographic, economic, food, political and built-environments in Pacific Island countries drives the high prevalence and risk for noncommunicable diseases, disability and premature mortality among these populations.

The Group Dynamics Seminar series is considered one of the longest running seminar series in the social sciences. It has been running uninterruptedly since it was founded by Kurt Lewin in the 1920’s in Berlin. A very important feature of this seminar today is its interdisciplinary nature. Recent seminars have included discussions in “Law and Psychology,” “Racism and Discrimination,” “Social Media,” and “New Directions in Social Psychology.”

The Winter 2024 Series is co-sponsored by the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program (EHAP) at the University of Michigan.

This is the final seminar in this Winter series. The fall theme will be structural racism.