Polynesian Bones

Osteoporosis is a common bone disorder found predominantly in women in every corner of the globe both in the living and in skeletons of the last seven millennia found in global archaeological excavations, except Polynesia.

The Pacific Islands, or South Sea Islands, Polynesian people have an instantly recognisable phenotype characterised by a large bone and muscle mass frequently found in the front row of the rugby union scrum, or as security ‘bouncers’ on the door of night clubs. They are rarely seen in the orthopaedic wards of Australasia in spite of increasing migrant numbers and their passion for the two rugby football codes. This poses the questions of are their bones stronger and if that is the case, why is that?

Information directly from the islands is restricted by limited life expectancy, greater health priorities such as diabetes, limited diagnostic facilities and the lack of sophisticated computerised health information collection. However; this paper finds supportive data for the first question and identifies genetic and lifestyle factors as the possible answer to the second question.