The Diets of On-reserve First Nations Youth: An Exploration of the Factors Associated with Healthy Food Choices and the Impact of School and Community Programs

• Main Author: Gates, Allison
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Waterloo 2015
• Subjects: First Nations; Aboriginal; diet; nutrition; fruits; vegetables; milk products; traditional foods; youth; school; community based participatory research; program evaluation; Canada
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10012/10160

Background. In Canada, First Nations (FN) people experience poorer health outcomes and shorter life expectancies than non-Aboriginal people. Of particular concern are the high and rising prevalence rates of overweight and obesity. This is especially true of on-reserve populations, who may be lacking in the opportunities and resources necessary to facilitate healthy lifestyles (e.g., reasonably priced healthy foods, access to organized sports or recreation facilities). The development of obesity for FN people is exceptionally complex and not well understood, although energy intake is a known contributor. The contributors to the food choices of young people are also numerous, interacting and complex. This is compounded by the severe and lasting effects of colonialism and marginalization, which have left much of the Canadian FN population disadvantaged with respect to many of the social determinants of health and distanced them from their culture. First Nations Canadians have, as a result, undergone a relatively rapid and recent transition towards a more ‘Western’ way of life that is increasingly reliant on store-bought foods and more sedentary in nature. The reduction in traditional, land-based food procurement and consumption among this population, given the known nutritional benefits of these foods and their importance to the holistic health of FN people, is of particular interest. Because of the high prevalence of food insecurity within on-reserve FN populations and the relative lack of economic opportunities in isolated and remote locations, these nutrient-rich traditional foods may sometimes be replaced with energy dense, nutrient poor store-bought alternatives. The food environment in many FN communities does not support or facilitate healthy choices. Healthy food may cost in excess of two times what it does in larger cities, and in remote and isolated locations, such foods may be inconsistently available and of unacceptable quality when they are. Access to traditional foods may be limited by high economic ...