| Summary: | Contemporary Inuit diets are comprised of both country and store-bought foods, which each confer benefits and risks to Inuit physical, mental, cultural, spiritual and socio-economic health. Inuit residing in Inuit Nunangat (the Canadian traditional homelands of the Inuit) disproportionately experience food insecurity and impacts of climate change, threatening the quality and safety of foods consumed. Elevated concentrations of certain environmental contaminants in Inuit Nunangat represent a concerning source of Inuit dietary exposure to contaminants through country food consumption. Further, Inuit are experiencing disconcertingly high rates of chronic diseases, are consuming less nutritious and culturally significant country foods, and are consuming more unhealthy, non-nutrient dense store-bought foods. It is therefore imperative that Inuit communities have access to evidence-informed and culturally relevant information promoting healthy and safe diets to support their nutritional and cultural well-being. Dietary messages addressing the health risks and benefits of country and store-bought food choices and activities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) of the Northwest Territories (NWT) aim to reduce harm and improve health among Inuvialuit (Inuit from the Western Arctic). However, an understanding of how dietary messages are developed and disseminated in the ISR remains unknown and best practices for collaborative approaches to nutrition communication grounded in Inuvialuit culture and knowledge is understudied. This project aims to fill these gaps in knowledge, extending our understanding of dietary message communication strategies in Inuit communities. The purpose of this thesis is to (1) Characterize current public health dietary messages in the ISR (Study 1); (2) Identify how territorial, regional and local dietary message disseminators, local country food knowledge holders, and the public in Tuktoyaktuk can co-develop culture-centered dietary messages to more effectively promote healthy, safe and ...
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