YELLOWKNIFE - Spurred by rising rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, the Canadian government has released a version of its food guide aimed at providing healthy eating tips for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.
Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday that issues surrounding food and healthy eating for aboriginal people weren't represented in previous issues of the food guide. The most recent revision to the general food guide, released in February, was the first in 14 years.
"Obviously, we've had some problems with increasing obesity, childhood obesity and diabetes since that time, and quite frankly, there was quite a demand from aboriginal representatives to do something specific," Clement said.
The guide incorporates both modern and traditional food choices. For example, it lists bannock as a grain product and wild plants and berries as options under vegetables and fruit.
Bill Erasmus, regional chief for the Northwest Territories with the Assembly of First Nations, said his group has been in discussions about the food guide since 2005, first with the Liberal and then the Conservative government.
"First Nation children, more than half of our children are obese," he said. "It's a huge problem."
He said many studies have shown that First Nations people who eat traditional foods and exercise are much healthier than people who eat a more typical North American diet.
"Our bodies are in tune with that, and we know that we have to have food like caribou instilled in our diet, or it affects our system."
Harriet Kuhnlein, director of McGill University's Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, called the new food guide "quite a coup."
"It's very complicated when you're talking about native traditions from a country as big as Canada, with so many different kinds of native traditions," said Kuhnlein, who studies traditional food systems of aboriginal people both in Canada and other countries.
There are "many, many different kinds of traditional food patterns amongst our native people," she said.
"And then, superimposed upon that, you have the complexities of grocery stores or different sizes and availability of foods."
She said the guide strikes a good balance between both types of food.
"If they are eating a grocery store diet, they can find guidance in this food guide, and if they're mixing grocery store food with traditional food, they can also find how to make a good diet from the guide," she said.
Kuhnlein also pointed out that the guide addresses dietary issues specific to aboriginal people.
"Milk and dairy products are things that were not included in First Nations traditions, beyond the breastfeeding of children," she said.
The guide addresses that tradition, suggesting traditional alternatives such as wild plants, seaweed or fish with bones to substitute for the nutrients found in milk.
The guide, which talks about respecting the body and having a healthy spirit, also takes into consideration the four quadrants of health in First Nations traditions.
"The emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental aspects of health . . . here you have strong body, mind and spirit. I think it captures it very well."
Erasmus said the food guide is only a start, however.
He said traditional ways of gathering food need to be preserved so that all First Nations people have access to the type of nutrition they need to stay healthy.
For example, the practice of caribou hunting involves exercise in tracking down and killing the animal, as well as the health benefits of the meat.
"There's a physical part to it, there's an emotional, there's a spiritual aspect, a connection to the land, all of that involved," he said.
He said such activities need to be encouraged.
"We need to sit down now and talk about how we can make sure that those foods are on our table, rather than just putting out a guide and expecting people to have caribou."
