Abstract
BackgroundThe 12-month Healthy Foods North intervention program was developed to improve diet among Inuit and Inuvialuit living in Arctic Canada and assess the impact of the intervention established for the communities.MethodsA quasi-experimental study randomly selected men and women (≥19 years of age) in six remote communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Validated quantitative food frequency and adult impact questionnaires were used. Four communities received the intervention and two communities served as delayed intervention controls. Pre- and post-intervention changes in frequency of/total intake of de-promoted food groups and healthiness of cooking methods were determined. The impact of the intervention was assessed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).ResultsPost-intervention data were analysed in the intervention (n = 221) and control (n = 111) communities, with participant retention rates of 91% for Nunavut and 83% for the Northwest Territories. There was a significant decrease in de-promoted foods, such as high fat meats (−27.9 g) and high fat dairy products (−19.8 g) among intervention communities (all p ≤ 0.05). The use of healthier preparation methods significantly increased (14.7%) in intervention communities relative to control communities.ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of using a community-based, multi-institutional nutrition intervention program to decrease the consumption of unhealthy foods and the use of unhealthy food preparation methods.
Highlights
The 12-month Healthy Foods North intervention program was developed to improve diet among Inuit and Inuvialuit living in Arctic Canada and assess the impact of the intervention established for the communities
The lifestyle and diet changes experienced by Indigenous peoples during the last decades influence diet quality, which affects the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases in Canadian Indigenous populations residing in Nunavut (NU) and the Northwest Territories (NWT) [6,7,8,9,10]
A total of 441 quantitative food frequency questionnaires (QFFQ) and 494 Adult Impact Questionnaires (AIQ) were collected at baseline; response rates ranged from 74-93% in NU and from 65-85% in the NWT communities
Summary
The 12-month Healthy Foods North intervention program was developed to improve diet among Inuit and Inuvialuit living in Arctic Canada and assess the impact of the intervention established for the communities. The lifestyle and diet changes experienced by Indigenous peoples during the last decades influence diet quality, which affects the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases (e.g. hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and some forms of cancer) in Canadian Indigenous populations residing in Nunavut (NU) and the Northwest Territories (NWT) [6,7,8,9,10]. Several studies of Inuit and Inuvialuit populations have documented rapid socio-economic and cultural transitions related to acculturation which have led to a shift away from traditional diets and procurement practices towards increased dependence on non-nutrient-dense, store-bought foods [10,11,12,13]. Recent studies found a high prevalence of preparation methods that add fat to foods (e.g. frying with lard) [18,19]; these preparation methods are determinants of fat intake [20,21] and risk factors for impaired glucose tolerance [22] among Inuit and Inuvialuit populations
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