Traversing the Bridges of Our Lives

Body fat percentage (BF%) was measured in 298 Singaporean Chinese, Malay and Indian men and women using a chemical four-compartment model consisting of fat, water, protein and mineral (BF%4C). In addition, weight, height, skinfold thickness and segmental impedance (from hand to hand) was measured. Body fat percentage was predicted using prediction equations from the literature (for skinfolds BF%SKFD) and using the manufacturer's software for the hand-held impedance analyser (BF%IMP). The subjects ranged in age from 18-70 years and in body mass index from 16.0 to 40.2 kg/m2. Body fat ranged from 6.5 to 53.3%. The biases for skinfold prediction (BF%4C-BF%SKFD, mean +/- SD) were -0.4+/-3.9, 2.3+/-4.1 and 3.1+/-4.2 in Chinese, Malay and Indian women, respectively, the Chinese being different from the Malays and Indians. The differences were significant from zero (P < 0.05) in the Malays and Indians. For the men, the biases were 0.5+/-3.8, 0.0+/-4.8 and 0.9+/-4.0 in Chinese, Malays and Indians, respectively. These biases were not significantly different from zero and not different among the ethnic groups. The biases for hand-held impedance BF% were -0.7+/-4.5, 1.5+/-4.4 and 0.4+/-3.8 in Chinese, Malay and Indian women. These biases were not significantly different from zero but the bias in the Chinese was significantly different from the biases in the Malays and Indians. In the Chinese, Malay and Indian men, the biases of BF%IMP were 0.7+/-4.6, 1.9+/-4.8 and 2.0+/-4.4, respectively. These biases in Malay and Indian men were significantly different from zero and significantly different from the bias in Chinese men. The biases were correlated with level of body fat and age, and also with relative arm span (arm span/height) for impedance. After correction, the differences in bias among the ethnic groups disappeared. The study shows that the biases in predicted BF% differ between ethnic groups, differences that can be explained by differences in body composition and differences in body build. This information is important and should be taken into account when comparing body composition across ethnic groups using predictive methods.

ObjectivesTo evaluate a Framingham 5-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk score in Indians and Europeans in New Zealand, and determine whether body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic deprivation were independent predictors...

In the 1830s and 1840s, the Indian woman played a crucial role in British colonial debates about the imperial obligation to reform and improve the social and moral condition of the ‘subject peoples’. For example, the British colonial government in India passed legislation to abolish sati and to allow widow remarriage. Thus, in terms of the status of women, colonial rule presented itself as a civilising and moral force. During this same period, as Indian indentured labour became a central component of the imperial economy, the British colonial discourse designated some Indian men and women as low-caste labourers or ‘coolies’. As colonial rule challenged what it saw as the ‘traditional’ roles of the Indian woman, such as the victimised widow or the child bride, it also created a new moral capacity for her, specifically as a coolie woman.

No systematic comparison has been conducted in Fiji using all suitable surveys of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity prevalence after standardizing methodology and definitions. Unit records from six surveys of Fiji adults were variously adjusted for age, ethnicity (Fiji Melanesians, i-Taukei, and Fijians of Asian Indian descent [Indians]) and urban-rural by sex to previous censuses. Trends were assessed using meta-regression (random effect models) and estimates projected to 2020. Poisson regression of strata was used to assess the effect of body mass index (BMI) increases on T2DM period trends. Over 1980-2011, T2DM prevalence increased in i-Taukei men (3.2% to 11.1%; 1.32%/5 years) and women (5.3% to 13.6%; 1.40%/5 years) and Indian men (11.1% to 17.9%; 1.24%/5 years) and women (11.2% to 19.9%; 1.71%/5 years). Projected T2DM prevalence in 2020 is 13.3% and 16.7% in i-Taukei men and women, and 23.4% and 24.1% in Indian men and women, respectively. Obesity prevalence increased in i-Taukei men (12.6% to 28.9%; 2.99%/5 years) and women (30.1% to 52.9%; 3.84%/5 years) and in Indian men (2.8% to 9.4%; 1.21%/5 years) and women (13.2% to 26.6%; 2.61%/5 years). Projected obesity prevalence in 2020 is 34.0% and 60.0% in i-Taukei and women, and 11.4% and 31.0% in Indian men and women, respectively. After age-adjustment, an estimated 27%, 25%, 16% and 18% of the T2DM period trend is attributable to BMI in i-Taukei men and women and Indian men and women, respectively. Prevalence of T2DM in Fiji is projected to continue increasing, driven by rising obesity, with consequences for premature mortality and life expectancy.

Hepatic secretions of biliary lipids were estimated in 43 patients with and without cholesterol gallstones. Studies were carried out by a marker dilution technique employing duodenal intubation with a three-lumen tube. Hourly secretion rates of cholesterol, bile acids, and phospholipids were determined during constant infusion with liquid formula. In 17 American Indian women with gallstones, hourly outputs of biliary bile acids were significantly less than those in 7 Indian men and 12 Caucasian women without gallstones. These findings suggest that a decreased hepatic secretion of bile acids contributes significantly to the production of a lithogenic bile in Indian women. However, in Indian women with gallstones, secretion of biliary cholesterol was also significantly increased, as compared with Caucasian women without stones. Therefore, lithogenic bile in Indian women was, in most cases, due to a combined decrease in bile acid output and increase in cholesterol secretion. In an attempt to determine the mechanisms for these abnormalities, cholesterol balance studies were done in Indian women with gallstones and normal Indian men. Balance data were compared with results reported previously in non-Indian patients studied by the same techniques, and in general, Indian women showed a slight increase in fecal excretion of bile acids. Since bile acids in the enterohepatic circulation were relatively depleted in Indian women, these patients had a reduced fractional reabsorption. However, previous studies have shown that Caucasians can rapidly replenish bile acid pools in the presence of much greater intestinal losses, and it is suggested that among Indian women with gallstones, reduced secretion rates of bile acids are primarily the result of defective homeostatic regulation of bile acid synthesis. In Indian women with gallstones, at least two factors may have contributed to an increased availability of cholesterol in the liver for secretion into bile. First, cholesterol was inadequately converted into bile acids, and secondly, an increased amount of cholesterol was synthesized, as shown by the balance technique. This enhanced production of cholesterol can partially be explained by obesity, but other factors may also play a role.

BackgroundAsian Indian immigrants have an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, there is very little data examining how the adipokines leptin and adiponectin relate to CVD risk factors such as body fat percentage (BF%), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and the apoB/apoA1 ratio in Asian Indian men and women living in Canada.Subjects and methodsA cross-sectional study comparing leptin, adiponectin, lipoproteins and anthropometric parameters in Asian Indian men and women to Caucasian men and women (4 groups). Anthropometric data (BMI, BF%, WHR), circulating lipids (apoA1, apoB, total cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol), leptin and adiponectin were measured.ResultsAsian Indian men and women had higher leptin and lower adiponectin concentrations then Caucasian men and women, respectively. Leptin (positively) and adiponectin (negatively) correlated with anthropometric parameters and lipoproteins in all four groups. Using stepwise forward multiple regression, a model including TC/HDL-C ratio, WHR, BF%, hip circumference and waist circumference predicted 74.2% of leptin concentration in men. In women, apoB, BF%, waist circumference and age predicted 77.5% of leptin concentration. Adiponectin concentrations in men were predicted (30.2%) by HDL-C, total cholesterol, hip circumference and BF% while in women 41.2% of adiponectin concentration was predicted by the apoB/apoA1 ratio, WHR and age.ConclusionAs is evident from our data, there is a strong relationship between leptin, adiponectin, and abdominal obesity with increased CVD risk, as assessed by the apoB/apoA1 ratio. Dysregulation of these parameters may account for the increased risk of CVD in Asian Indians.

346 Western American Literature lusts, his boldnesses, his abilities, his willingness to be hugely and spontane­ ously himself. This is not simply a brash young trapper feeling his oats, but a man who sees the myriad, crazy possibilities of life and embraces them with an affirming, cosmic laughter. If the book’s other people run to fur-trade stereotypes, it does not matter beside the creation of such a splendid Beckwourth . Hotchkiss is quick to emphasize that his Beckwourth is fictional, and that seems to me right: Why not use the historical mulatto as a frame on which to build a character larger and more resonant than history? But other liberties with history are more dubious: Hotchkiss indicates several times that Moses Harris was a Negro, which he wasn’t; Jedediah Smith is sketched as small both physically and spiritually, a factual error com­ pounded by an interpretive one; emigrants are put into the mountains half a decade before they arrived; and other such small matters. The reshaping of history seems to me legitimate when done knowingly for large artistic purpose, but not when done out of carelessness or ignorance. And, considering Hotchkiss’s impressive ability to enter into the mind of Beckwourth, I hoped for a deeper and more empathetic portrayal of Crow culture. Hotchkiss seems interested in such matters only superficially, when unavoidable for his story. There’s no denying the novel’s sporadic great beauty, but on the whole this is an uneven performance. Sometimes Ammahabas seems to belong in the distinguished company of The Big Sky, Lord Grizzly, Trask, and Moontrap. As often it seems to blend “distinguished” with “boring.” WINFRED BLEVINS, Jackson, Wyoming Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society, 1670-1870. By Sylvia Van Kirk. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983. $21.50 hardcover. $9.95 paperback.) The importance of the fur trade to North American history can hardly be overstated. Yet, because the fur trade has been regarded as a male activity, Van Kirk’s book might seem only a trivial addendum. To think, however, that women were not important to the fur trade underscores our sexist and racist conceptualization of history. While it is true that a virtual ban kept European women from the Canadian wilds for much of the fur-trade period, the extensive role Indian women and their “half-breed” daughters played in fur-trade society has been ignored. Van Kirk’s book documents the widespread intermarriage between the traders and Indian women, showing how fur-trade society developed its own marriage rite, a la fagon du pays, combining both Indian and European mar­ riage customs. Using wills, letters, diaries, and a volume of Hudson’s Bay Company correspondence, she illustrates both the loving and tragic relation­ ships that existed between traders and their native families. Van Kirk ends Reviews 347 her book with the arrival of white women and the tensions caused by these “lovely, tender exotics.” Many Tender Ties documents what effects the coming of traders with their iron pots, knives, and European values had on native society, and illus­ trates the differences in the way Indian males and females responded to these changes. Indian women, for example, who welcomed metal implements, were also often more closely connected with the fur trade than were Indian men. Women served as interpreters, snowshoe and moccasin makers, and food preservers. Also, because Indian women trapped small animals and prepared their pelts, these peltries were considered their property. Consequently, much of the actual trading for pelts involved an exchange between trappers and Indian women. Many Tender Ties is a pleasure to read and a valuable asset to scholar­ ship. It has many pictures, extensive footnotes, and a substantial bibliography. Its only limitation is that Van Kirk had to rely on men’s documents to recreate the history of women. Indian women and their offspring left very few first­ hand accounts of their thoughts and feelings. This may be a part of history we will never be able to regain, but .Many Tender Ties does much to remedy the deficiencies of our present history. BILLIE WAHLSTROM Michigan Technological University Famous All Over Town. By Danny Santiago, pseud. Daniel James. (New York: Simon...

Gender inequality and violence of indigenous women began during the high level of European colonial penetration. This process was continued and maintained by the creation of federal Indian legislation. In order for this process to take hold, indigenous men were forced to perpetuate the same type of gender inequality that was practiced by the new Americans. Consequently, indigenous women were displaced from their indigenous purpose and relegated to an unfamiliar, inferior and often subjugated position to Indian men and to whites. As a result of this treatment, the relationship between American Indian men and women changed dramatically, contributing to a higher level of conflict and gender inequality within and outside of tribal governments. This article examines factors that gave rise to the inequality of Indian women and offers suggestions on how American Indian women can achieve a level of equality and still not sidestep the larger issue of tribal sovereignty.

The objective of this study is to analyze time allocation by gender in ‘employment and related’, ‘unpaid domestic’, and ‘unpaid caregiving’ activities for the individuals representing work in public and private spheres in India. Employing Indian Time-use data 2019, this study examines time distribution of Indian men and women in these activities. Furthermore, the variation in intensity of time allocation due to socio-economic and demographic factors of individuals has been assessed using ordinary least square regression. The study reveals important gender inequalities prevail in the time spent for all the three-activity categories. Indian men devote considerable time in ‘employment and related’ activities whereas Indian women spend more time in the other two activities. The time spent in ‘unpaid domestic’ activities by Indian women is more for those who are less educated, socially marginalized, unemployed, and belong to poorer households whereas ‘unpaid caregiving’ activities are more intensive for women who are highly educated, socially marginalized, not in the labour force and have more children at home. Originality/value : the present study contributes to understanding the disproportionate burden of ‘employment and related’, ‘unpaid domestic’ and ‘unpaid caregiving’ activities and the intersectional dynamics that play a significant role in the allocation of time use across the gender lines using the latest data available in India.

Sex-specific associations between markers of arterial stiffness and bone mineral density in Indian men and women.

Cancer incidence for American Indians and Alaska Natives is typically reported as a single rate for all U.S. indigenous populations combined. Previously reported combined rates suggest that American Indians and Alaska Natives have lower cancer incidence rates compared with the U.S. population. Alaska Native people comprise three major ethnic groups: Eskimo, Indian, and Aleut people. We examined cancer incidence from only Alaska Indians and compared incidence rates with an American Indian population living in New Mexico. These data indicate striking differences in cancer patterns between two American Indian populations. Cancer data for the years 1993 to 2002 for American Indians of New Mexico and U.S. Whites are from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program Public-use data set. Data for Alaska Indians are from the Alaska Native Tumor Registry, which is also a Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program participant. Overall, cancer incidence rates for all sites combined in New Mexico Indian men and women were lower than U.S. White rates, whereas Alaska Indian men and women exceeded U.S. rates. In comparing Alaska and New Mexico Indians, we observed a 2.5-fold higher incidence of cancer among Alaska Indians. The largest differences between the two Indian populations were noted primarily in cancers associated with tobacco use, including cancers of the oral cavity/pharynx, esophagus (only in men), colon and rectum, pancreas, larynx (men), lung, prostate, and urinary bladder (men). Lung cancer rates in Alaska Indian men and women were 7 and 10 times those of New Mexico Indian men and women.

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of mortality globally, is caused by a combination of behavioral, clinical and genetic risk factors. The rising prevalence of unhealthy diet, inadequate exercise, psychosocial factors and tobacco use in urban and rural populations of India has posed a major epidemiological and healthcare threat in the recent past. Purpose This study aims to understand the cardiovascular health risk behaviors in Indian men and women during the pandemic. Methods A survey-based study was conducted at different time points between April 2020 and August 2021. A pre-tested anonymized self-administered questionnaire was distributed online as a pre-program assessment of participants registering for the health awareness webinars conducted by our team. Demographic data and CVD risk behaviors pertaining to dietary consumption, exercise routine, sedentary behavior, psychosocial factors, sleep pattern, tobacco use and alcohol consumption were collected. Not meeting daily intake of whole grains and at least 4 portions of vegetables and fruits, non-performance of at least 150 minutes of brisk aerobic exercise per week, chronic stress and use of tobacco were considered risky behaviors, as per the international guidelines. Results Of the 573 subjects, 305 (53%) were women and 236 (41%) were 15-30 years old. Majority of subjects were not meeting their requirements pertaining to whole grains (76%) and fruits/vegetables (72%). Inadequate exercise (48%), chronic stress (31%) and tobacco use (5%) were noted. Significantly more women than men (p = 0.0001) were falling short in their exercise requirement. Significantly more men than women (p = 0.0001) were using tobacco products (Figure). Conclusion Cardiovascular risk behaviors are highly prevalent in Indian men and women during the pandemic calling for a coordinated effort to increase awareness and modify to a healthy behavior. Abstract Figure. Risk behaviors in study subjects Abstract Figure. Comparison of risk behaviors

This brief report used the mortality data to separately examine suicide rates of the six largest Asian American groups: Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. In 2000, Japanese American men (13.8 per 100,000) showed significantly higher suicide rate than Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese American men (7.3, 4.0, and 6.1 per 100,000), whereas Chinese, Korean, and Japanese women (3.7, 3.9, and 4.3 per 100,000) showed higher suicide rates than Indian women (1.2 per 100,000). In 2010, Korean and Japanese American men (19.9 and 15.7 per 100,000) showed higher suicide rates than men of other Asian groups. Korean and Japanese American women (8.1 and 5.0 per 100,000) showed higher suicide rates than Indian and Filipino American women (1.5 and 1.8 per 100,000). The findings challenge the notion that Asian Americans are at low risk for suicide and underscore the importance of examining ethnic variation in suicide behaviors among Asian Americans.

Visfatin is a recently described adipose tissue derived hormone whose role in humans remains largely unknown. To determine visfatin's relationship to lipoproteins and body composition parameters in Asian Indians and Caucasians. A cross-sectional study. Men and women living in Montreal, Canada between the ages of 20 and 60 years were recruited for participation in this study. Subjects were excluded if they had a history of CVD or were taking lipid lowering medication. Individuals identified themselves as Asian Indian or Caucasian. Anthropometric measurements were collected including weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference and body fat percentage (BF%). Serum samples were analysed for total cholesterol, HDL-C, apoA1, apoB and visfatin. There was no difference in visfatin levels between Indian and Caucasian men (64.50 +/- 3.98 ng/ml vs 73.01 +/- 6.45 ng/ml, ns, respectively) and Indian and Caucasian women (59.03 +/- 5.71 ng/ml vs 77.70 +/- 7.63 ng/ml, ns, respectively), despite large differences in BF%, apoB and the apoB/apoA1 ratio. Visfatin correlated positively to HDL-C and apoA1 in the Indian men (R = 0.42, P = 0.004 and R = 0.48, P = 0.003) and Indian women (R = 0.46, P = 0.05 and R = 0.59, P = 0.01). Visfatin concentrations may be related to HDL metabolism in Asian Indian immigrants.

Gender, Sovereignty, Rights:Native Women's Activism against Social Inequality and Violence in Canada Joanne Barker (bio) Contemporary Native women's struggles against social inequality and violence and for Native sovereignty and self-determination are mired in histories of sexist ideologies and practices. While these struggles and histories did not begin in the nineteenth century (sexism certainly existed before then), they were fortified in powerful ways by the Indian Act of 1868. The act consolidated under Canadian Parliament authority all previous colonial legislation addressing the status and rights of Native people in Canada. In 1876, the act was amended to establish patrilineality as the criterion for determining Indian status, including the rights of Indians to participate in band government, have access to band services and programs, and live on the reserves.1 The amendment instanced and reified the sexist ideologies and practices of colonialism in which the act emerged and functioned, and it did so specifically by empowering status Indian men with all of the rights, privileges, and entitlements of status in band government and reserve life. Over time, this led status Indian men to an expectation of entitlement in band government and property rights over Indian women, irrespective of their status. The provisions of the Indian Act and its enforcement by Canada only affirmed and perpetuated those expectations.2 In 1983 and 1985, several different kinds of Indian women's constituencies (status, nonstatus, reserve, urban, rural) and their allies (including Indian men) secured constitutional and legislative amendments that partially reversed the 1876 criterion.3 The amendments were not passed easily. Status Indian men who then dominated band governments and organizations protested vehemently against the women and their efforts. They accused the women of being complicit with a long history of colonization and racism that imposed, often violently, non-Indian principles and institutions on Indian peoples. This history was represented for the men by the women's appeals to civil and human rights laws, and more particularly to feminism, to challenge the [End Page 259] constitutionality and human rights compliance of the Indian Act, an act the men represented as providing the only real legal protection of Indian rights to sovereignty in Canada. Demonized as the proponents of an ideology of rights based on selfish individualism, and damned for being "women's libbers" out to force Indian peoples into compliance with that ideology, the women and their concerns were dismissed as embodying all things not only non- but anti-Indian.4 Their agendas for reform were dismissed as not only irrelevant but dangerous to Indian sovereignty. These dismissals perpetuated sexist ideologies and discriminatory and violent practices against Indian women within Indian communities by normalizing the men's discourses regarding the irrelevance of gender as well as the disenfranchisement of women in Indian sovereignty struggles. The longer work from which this article is drawn examines the 1983 and 1985 amendments and the activism that led to their development and passage as an instance of the co-constitutive relationship of sovereignty and gender.5 By developing how and which specific discourses of rights were mobilized by various constituencies of Indian men, women, and their allies, the article opens up the conflicts surrounding gender politics and women's rights within Native sovereignty movements. In doing so, it intends to provide a forum for thinking about the kinds of social reformations needed to bring about equity between and for men and women in Indian communities, an essential aspect of any agenda for decolonization and social justice for Native peoples. Structuring Inequalities: Understanding the Indian Act System Canada's Constitution Act of 1867 assigned "exclusive jurisdiction" to Parliament over "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians" (Section 91, 24).6 Canada's Indian Act of 1868 enumerated these powers by defining the laws and procedures of band governments as well as the terms of occupancy and use by bands of trust lands or reserves. It commissioned the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) to oversee band government operations and the management of reserve lands, resources, housing, and all related program and funding issues, such as education and health care. DIAND agents were also given the authority to remove band officials from office if...