Using First Nations Children\u27s Perceptions of Food and Activity to Inform an Obesity Prevention Strategy

Obesity and associated health risks disproportionately affect Aboriginal (First Nations) children in Canada. The purpose of this research study was to elicit First Nations children’s perceptions of food, activity, and health to inform a community-based obesity prevention strategy. Fifteen 4th- and 5th-Grade students participated in one of three focus group interviews that utilized drawing and pile-sorting activities. We used an ecological lens to structure our findings. Analyses revealed that a variety of interdependent sociocultural factors influenced children’s perceptions. Embedded within a cultural/traditional worldview, children indicated a preference for foods and activities from both contemporary Western and traditional cultures, highlighted family members as their main sources of health information, and described information gaps in their health education. Informed by children’s perspectives, these findings offer guidance for developing an obesity prevention strategy for First Nations children in this community.</jats:p

Do sugar-sweetened beverages cause adverse health outcomes in adults? A systematic review protocol

Background: Chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, impose significant burden to public health. Most chronic diseases are associated with underlying preventable risk factors, such as elevated blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids, physical inactivity, excessive sedentary behaviours, overweight and obesity, and tobacco usage. Sugar-sweetened beverages are known to be significant sources of additional caloric intake, and given recent attention to their contribution in the development of chronic diseases, a systematic review is warranted. We will assess whether the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in adults is associated with adverse health outcomes and what the potential moderating factors are. Methods/Design: Of interest are studies addressing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, taking a broad perspective. Both direct consumption studies as well as those evaluating interventions that influence consumption (e.g. school policy, educational) will be relevant. Non-specific or multi-faceted behavioural, educational, or policy interventions may also be included subject to the level of evidence that exists for the other interventions/exposures. Comparisons of interest and endpoints of interest are pre-specified. We will include randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, interrupted time series studies, controlled before-after studies, prospective and retrospective comparative cohort studies, case-control studies, and nested case-control designs. The MEDLINE®, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, ERIC, and PsycINFO® databases

A Comparison of two methods for estimating age at death from bone microstructure

Bibliography: p. 114-125.This thesis was undertaken to assess the accuracy of two means of estimating age at death using microstructural quantification. The techniques that were chosen for comparison were the core method of Thompson and Kerley's method which requires a complete cross section of bone. It is important to assess if Thompson's method is as. accurate as Kerley's in estimating age at death because it requires the use of a much smaller piece of bone and is therefore less destructive. This has important archaeological implications because museum specimens or other rare skeletal materials can not be subjected to extensive damage. Prior to the undertaking of this thesis a comparative assessment of the two techniques had not been completed The accuracy of both methods was assessed on the femora from twenty four individuals of known age at death. These individuals were aged 21 to 90 years. Kerley's method was assessed using eighteen cross sections. Thompson's method was assessed using eighteen cross sections and six bone cores. The results of this research demonstrate that the two methods provide different age at death estimates. Kerley's method provides the best accuracy in estimating age at death both for the complete sample and for subsets of the sample. These subsets were males, females, individuals younger than 45 years of age and individuals older than 45 years of age. The accuracy of Kerley's method varies as a function of field size and the sex of the individual being examined. Certain combinations of these factors provide age estimates that are less accurate than provided by Thompson's method. Kerley's technique was assessed using field sizes similar to those suggested to have been used in his original research, in addition to a smaller field size. It became apparent that the application of a correction factor to compensate for differences in field size was not fully effective. For males, a disproportionately large number of osteons directly adjacent to the periosteal surface created corrected osteon counts in the small field size which exceeded those from the large field size. This created many errors in age estimation. The same phenomenon was not noted for females and age estimates from the smaller field size produced better age estimates for females. Different field sizes produced variation in the accuracy of estimating age at death in males and females suggesting that each sex remodels bone uniquely at the subperiosteal region. This conclusion needs to be assessed further in future studies. Both Kerley's and Thompson's methods are poor at assessing the age at death of the very old. Microstructural assessments of age at death might be limited by the nature of bone remodeling which varies extensively among the elderly. This large spread of values creates errors in age estimation when regression equations are derived from samples which include very old individuals. This error increases with higher order regression models and proved to be particularly problematic with Kerley's revised regression equation for fragments. The form of the regression equations for Kerley's and Thompson's methods are not consistent with the theoretical changes expected between bone parameters and age. This also leads to error in age estimation

Anemia in James Bay Cree infants of northern Quebec

The objectives of this research were to determine the prevalence of anemia, and identify risk factors for anemia, in 9-month-old Cree infants living in northern Quebec. The prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin <110 g/L) was 25--32%, depending on the study sample. Iron deficiency was present in 28.2% of infants who could be classified and 14.4% had iron deficiency anemia. Fewer than 2% of infants had low birth weight (<2500 g) so most infants should have been born with adequate iron stores. One cause of anemia that was identified was a diet that was low in iron. Only 15.1% of infants were reported by guardians to eat meat daily and 28.5% were reported to never eat meat. Infants who were breastfed or cow's milk fed did not obtain sufficient iron for effective erythropoiesis. Compared with formula that was predominantly iron fortified, the odds ratio (OR) for anemia was 7.9 (95% CI 3.4--18.2) for breast milk and 5.0 (95% CI 2.0--12.7) for cow's milk. When milk type was controlled for, weight gain since birth was significantly associated with microcytic erythrocytes (OR comparing the highest tertile of weight gain to the lowest tertile 2.9, 95% CI 1.2--6.6). This indicates that fast-growing infants were not meeting their iron needs for growth. Another risk factor for anemia that was identified was common childhood infections. The prevalence of anemia among infants reported as recently unwell with an infection was higher than among infants reported as recently well (31.1% vs. 19.0%, chi2 = 4.27, p = 0.039). The prevalence of elevated blood lead was 2.7% and is not a major public health problem. No evidence for vitamin A deficiency was found. Serum retinol was positively associated with all iron status indicators. Cree infants who were given supplements containing vitamin A had a lower prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin <105 g/L) (10.8% vs 23.2%, chi2 = 5.97, p = 0.015). These results suggest a role for vitamin A in iron metabolism. To prevent anemia in aboriginal

The Archaeology of Gender

Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Chacmool Archaeology Conferenc

Prevalence Estimates of Overweight and Obesity in Cree Preschool Children in Northern Quebec According to International and US Reference Criteria

Objectives. We estimated the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Cree Canadian children aged 5 years (n=1044) using international and US growth references and examined the longitudinal tracking of weight categories between ages 2 and 5 years (n=562). Methods. Weight categories based on body mass index (calculated from measured heights and weights) were derived from the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) references. Results. According to the IOTF reference, 52.9% of children were overweight (31.6%) or obese (21.3%) whereas with the CDC reference, 64.9% were overweight (27.5%) or obese (37.4%). The IOTF and CDC references provided dissimilar tracking of weight categories. Based on the IOTF reference, 4.9% of the children who were normal weight at age 2 years were obese at age 5 years. Based on the CDC reference, 14.9% of children categorized as normal weight at age 2 years were obese at age 5 years. Conclusions. The IOTF reference provided more conservative estimates of obesity than the CDC reference, and longitudinal analyses showed dissimilar tracking of weight categories with the 2 references. Public health responses to obesity prevalence estimates should be made with awareness of methodological limitations

Food Insecurity Among International Post-Secondary Students Studying on a Canadian Campus: A Qualitative Description Study

Enrollment of international post-secondary students is increasing across Canadian campuses. International post-secondary students may experience challenges in accessing nutritious foods that meet their dietary needs and food preferences. These challenges can pose negative impacts on their health, well-being, and academic achievement. Our aim was to describe international post-secondary students’ perceptions of (1) challenges to attaining food security and (2) consequences of food insecurity on the university experience. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 11 international post-secondary students who had food insecurity, were enrolled at a public university in Canada, and who had requested emergency foodhampers from the on-campus food bank. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using manifest, inductive content analysis. International post-secondary students reported several logistical issues related to obtaining sufficient food, including a lack of time, limited family support, modest food preparation skills, and low knowledge about supportive services and resources. Students also faced challenges in sourcing culturally appropriate foods, including issues related to food availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability. Further, they perceived food insecurity to negatively influence their academic performance through compromised concentration, reduced class and exam attendance, and adverse mpactson physical, mental, and social well-being. Some students reported extreme food deprivation, resulting in hunger. Our results revealed the negative impacts that food insecurity can have on international post-secondary students. Findings underscore the imperative to minimize the occurrence of food insecurity while studying in Canada by introducing and enhancing support systems on campus and in the community to enable food security.Les inscriptions d’étudiants internationaux augmentent sur les campus canadiens. Les étudiants internationaux de niveau postsecondaire peuvent vivre certaines difficultés pour accéder à des aliments nutritifs qui répondent à leurs besoins et préférences alimentaires. Ces défis peuvent avoir des effets négatifs sur leur santé, leur bien-être et leurs résultats scolaires. Notre objectif était de décrire les perceptions de ces étudiants en ce qui concerne (1) les défis pour atteindre la sécurité alimentaire et (2) les conséquences de l’insécurité alimentaire sur l’expérience universitaire. Nous avons mené des entrevues individuelles semi-structurées avec 11 étudiants internationaux de niveau postsecondaire qui souffraient d’insécurité alimentaire, qui étaient inscrits dans une université publique au Canada et qui avaient demandé des paniers alimentaires d’urgence à la banque alimentaire de leur campus. Les entretiens ont été enregistrés en audio, transcrits mot pour mot, et fait l’objet d’une analyse de contenu manifeste et&nbsp; nductive. Les étudiants internationaux de niveau postsecondaire ont signalé plusieurs problèmes logistiques liés à l’acquisition de nourriture, notamment un manque de temps, l’absence de soutien familial, des compétences culinaires faibles et une faible connaissance des services et des ressources de soutien.Les étudiants disent également avoir été confrontés à des défis pour se procurer des aliments culturellement appropriés, y compris des problèmes liés à la disponibilité, à l’accessibilité, à l’acceptabilité et au prix des aliments. De plus, ils disent percevoir une influence négative de l’insécurité alimentaire sur leurs résultats scolaires à cause d’une concentration moindre, d’une réduction de la fréquentation des cours et des examens et des effets néfastes sur le bien-être physique, mental et social qu’elle entraîne. Certains étudiants ont signalé une privation alimentaire extrême entraînant la faim. Nos résultats ont révélé les effets négatifs que l’insécurité alimentaire pouvait avoir sur les étudiants internationaux de niveau postsecondaire.Les résultats soulignent l’impératif de minimiser l’occurrence de l’insécurité alimentaire pendant les études au Canada en introduisant des systèmes de soutien sur les campus et dans la communauté pour permettre la sécurité alimentaire et en améliorant ceux qui existent