Emiyuu Ayayaachiit Awaash Project

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Emiyuu Ayayaachiit Awaash Project

• Noreen Willows (Principal Investigator, Alberta
  Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
  Population Health Investigator)
• Shauna Downs (Graduate Student)
• Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional
  Science, University of Alberta

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Emiyuu Ayayaachiit Awaash Project

• A study to understand the prevalence of unhealthy
  body weights and associated risk factors in Cree
  children in one rural and one remote community.
• Grades 4 - 6 (10 - 12 years old)
• Supported by the Cree Board of Health and Social
  Services of James Bay, Band councils, Principals
  of schools

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Study Components

• The Following was Collected in Both Communities
• Diet We completed three 24-hour recalls on
  non-consecutive days including 1 weekend day.
• Physical Fitness The children performed a 20-m
  shuttle run test and their times and last stage
  completed were recorded.
• Physical Activity The children wore pedometers
  on two separate days to assess the average number
  of steps that they took per day.

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Study Components Contd

• Anthropometric Measures
• Weight (lbs)
• Height (cm)
• Waist circumference (cm)
• BMI (kg/m2)
• The children were asked questions concerning the
  availability of food in their household
• Potato chips
• Fruits and vegetables
• Chocolate and candy
• Real fruit juice
• Pop/soft drink
• Milk
• Vegetables on their plate at dinner

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Participation

• 225 children attended school and were eligible to
  participate in the study.
• We received parental consent from 208 children.
• After excluding children with missing
  information, we obtained a total n of 201 for all
  nutrition data and a total n of 178 for all
  nutrition and physical activity/fitness data.
• Participation Rate 89 (nutrition only)
• Participation Rate 79 (nutrition and PA)

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Weight Status Abdominal Obesity
Fig 2. Prevalence of abdominal obesity
Fig 1. Prevalence of normal weight, overweight
and obesity
2/3 of children were overweight or obese 52 of
children had Abdominal Obesity
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Top Contributors in the diet
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Micronutrient Food Sources
fruit drink kool-aid, tang, punches
etc. traditional foods bear, moose, goose,
moose stew, rabbit, beaver.
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Physical Activity and Fitness
Fig 1. Fitness Levels
Fig 2. Shuttle run times by weight status
Fig 3. of children meeting pedometer
recommendations by weight status and sex
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Differences among Weight Status

• Waist circumference increased with increasing
  weight status.
• 77.6 of overweight and obese children had
  abdominal obesity
• Fitness levels declined with increasing weight
  status
• Normal weight girls took significantly more steps
  than obese girls
• Overweight boys took more steps than normal
  weight and obese boys
• Normal weight children consumed significantly
  more calories than overweight children.

Energy Imbalance
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Restaurant/Take-out Intake

• 77 of children consumed 1 or more meals from
  restaurant/take-out during the three days of
  24-hour dietary recall.
• 18 of children consumed 3 or more
  restaurant/take-out meals in the three days
  recall and these children had a poorer diet than
  children who consumed no meals at the
  restaurant/take-out.
• Children who consumed the most meals from
  restaurant/take-out had higher intakes of
  calories, energy from fat, energy from fat,
  energy from saturated fat, sweetened drinks and
  pop.
• There was no relationship between
  restaurant/take-out frequency and BMI or weight
  status.

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The home food environment

• Normal weight, overweight and obese children
  reported the same availability of foods in the
  home.
• Children who usually/always had pop, milk, and
  real fruit juice in the home consumed
  significantly more pop, milk and real fruit juice
  than children who never/sometimes had these
  beverages in their home.
• There was no relationship between the
  availability of fruits and vegetables and their
  intake.

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Unadjusted OR of factors associated with reduced
odds of overweight/obesity
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Implications

• There is a high prevalence of obesity and
  abdominal adiposity in this population, with low
  physical activity and fitness levels. This
  profile may result in adverse health outcomes.
• Our study provided valuable information in
  understanding the foods that Cree children eat,
  and the contribution of specific foods, including
  traditional foods, to the diet.
• Our findings provide evidence for the need for
  culturally sensitive interventions that target
  healthy body weights, physical activity and
  nutritious diets in Cree schoolchildren.

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Acknowledgements

• Participants
• The Cree Board of Health and Social Services of
  James Bay
• Funders Alberta ACADRE Network, CIHR - INMD
  HSF
• Research Team Dr. Noreen Willows (PI), Dr. Dru
  Marshall, Dr. Kim Raine, Dr. Linda McCargar
• Graduate Students on the project Carmina Ng,
  Amber Arnold, Denise Ridley

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Thank You! Meegwitch!
If you would like more information about this
study, please contact Dr. Noreen Willows at the
University of Alberta in Edmonton. noreen.willows_at_
ualberta.ca Tel [phone] or Shauna Downs
downs_at_ualberta.ca Tel [phone]