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3 Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE) and 4 School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue H9X3V9, Canada and 5 Department of Nutrition, University of Montréal, Montréal J3C3KS, Canada
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: harriet.kuhnlein{at}mcgill.ca.
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ABSTRACT |
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 TOP ABSTRACT LITERATURE CITED |
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Methods of data collection
Dietary data were collected during 2 seasons in 3 major dietary surveys of adults and a study of Dene children residing in Yukon and Northwest Territories (NWT) communities as described earlier (8–11). For this article, data from 24-h food intake recalls and frequency interviews, comprised of lists of traditional food (TF) species, were derived from these studies. Community meetings were conducted to create complete food lists of species currently known and used and to develop lists of species and their consumed parts, which were incorporated into frequency interviews for each cultural group. Daily intake from 24-h recall data was dichotomized into the TF and MF. Recall data were used to calculate mean intakes of food groups as percentage of total energy. TF groups consisted of land mammals, sea mammals, fish, birds, and plants. For MF, food groups represent the main categories (grains, meats, fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat alternatives). "Mixed dishes" included primarily savory foods containing meats (e.g., pizza, preprepared pasta with sauce), vegetables, and/or fruit. The "sweet/fat" MF group contained foods with sugar or fat as primary ingredients (e.g., crystal drinks, colas, margarine, lard, mayonnaise, nonfruit dessert).
Statistical methods
Macro and micronutrient intakes in days with and without TF were calculated as least-squares means ± SEM (Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric ANOVA adjusted for food source, age, gender, season, site, and day of week) (see Tables 3 and 4). In children, the ANOVA was adjusted for the effects of the variables after rank transformation of raw values. Nutrient composition is based on dietary analysis of the study population (6,7).
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ASF Consumption. Over 100 species of wildlife animals, fish, and plant foods were known and used by populations in each cultural group. Species are distributed in 5 TF groups, with those often consumed by adults in the study regions (Table 1). The most frequently consumed animal species were caribou (R. tarandus) and moose (A. alces), and the most important fish were whitefish (Coregonis sp.), salmon (Onchorhynchus sp.), char (S. alpinus), and trout (Salvelinus sp.). Muskox (Ovibos moschatus), several birds, and other fish were also shown to be important. Although many plant species were known and appreciated, they were infrequently consumed (<0.1 d/wk as seasonal average). An exception is the seasonal use of cloudberry and crowberry (Rubus chamaemorus, Empetrum nigrum) by Inuit.
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200 items. The most frequently consumed foods are generally those considered low in nutrient density. Tea, sugar, white bread, biscuits, lard, crystal powdered drinks, instant coffee, evaporated milk, corn flakes, soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, butter, and eggs were among the most frequently consumed Arctic MF, in order by weight (13). These MF are major sources of energy, appearing frequently in dietary recalls of adults and children. Fat in the form of solid shortening, rice, dry soup mixes, meat products (such as ground beef, fried chicken, bacon), macaroni and cheese, and frankfurters were less frequently consumed MF. The meats reported here are preprocessed, often precooked and presented as frozen items. In the Arctic, MF are generally expensive, primarily because of shipping costs.
Analysis of MF groups as a percentage of total energy from MF in Dene/Métis and Yukon children (n = 222) showed that grains and "other foods" comprised the majority of children's energy, usually >90% of total daily energy because TF was such a small portion of the diet. Meats and alternates from MF comprised 10% of total energy; dairy comprised 8% of total energy. When combined with TF, 15% of daily energy came from ASF. Of concern was the fact that 55% of total children's energy was derived from foods identified as fat (21%), sweet (20%), and mixed savory dishes (14%) (10).
The percentages of total energy intake from MF and TF reported by adult Arctic women and men from the 3 cultures are presented as food groups in Figure 2. ASF are represented in both MF and TF. In adult diets, MF meats formed 16–17% of energy, and TF meats and fish an additional portion of 19–20% of energy. Thus, 35–37% of energy for both genders was consumed as ASF, with a greater portion coming from TF meats and fish, which are low in saturated fat and excellent sources of many essential nutrients (5–7,14–17). Women's food group intakes as percentages of daily energy were comparable to those of men, with differences in mean intakes ranging only from 0.03 to 1.35%.
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To understand the contribution of traditional, local Arctic food to dietary quality, dietary data were analyzed separately for days with no TF consumption in contrast to days with consumption of 1 or more servings of TF (Table 3). Data were treated separately for adults from each culture and for Dene children. For adults in all 3 cultures, diets on days with TF consistently contained significantly more energy and, as percentage of energy, significantly less carbohydrate and fat and significantly more protein. Additionally, adult diets with TF in the 3 groups had significantly less sucrose and saturated fat. Children's diets analyzed similarly had significantly higher protein as percentage of energy. Other differences in macronutrients and sucrose were not found, likely because of the small sample size and limited amounts of TF consumed.
A similar data treatment for micronutrients revealed a significantly greater percentage of total energy, protein, vitamin D, vitamin E, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium for adults consuming at least 1 portion of TF on recall days (Table 4) as well as selenium (not shown) (8,10). Sodium contained in food was higher on days with only MF for adults (not shown). Vitamin C and folate were higher on days without TF for Inuit, as a result of fortification of frequently consumed commercial beverages (not shown) (8).
For children, even with small amounts of TF being consumed, diets of Dene/Yukon children containing TF had significantly more protein, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin E, riboflavin, and vitamin B-6. There were no other significant differences in micronutrient contents of children's diets comparing days with and without TF.
Discussion
Current attention has been called to the contribution of dietary diversity to dietary quality. It has been shown that increasing diversity in either individual food items or in food groups leads to a corresponding increase in dietary quality in North American diets (18). Consideration of the number of animal food species or food groups correlates with dietary diversity because diet diversity appears to be a prerequisite to dietary quality. Animal foods must be considered carefully. All ASF are not of equal nutritional quality, as is evident in the comparison of lean Arctic wildlife mammal tissues with processed meats such as frankfurters and lunch meats, which are high in saturated fat. Furthermore, 1 serving of 1 type of ASF provides more nutrient value (more nutrients, greater density) than any 1 plant food; therefore, animal food or food group should not be given equal "weight" in diversity scores. It remains to be understood how to best include meat and other ASF in dietary diversity calculations and correlations with nutrient quality.
Our work with Arctic food systems and diets reveals that a diversity of animal and plant species are known and used, although many fewer species are used frequently. Nevertheless, fewer than 2 dozen animal and fish species make significant contributions to Arctic dietary quality.
ASF, both TF and MF, are important sources of energy in diets of Arctic adults and children. Larger amounts of traditional meats and fish (combined) were eaten than of purchased meats. Adults' and children's diets invariably included MF, and they may have contained portions of TF, usually as meat or fish. When traditional meats or fish were included, daily intakes were significantly higher in percentage of energy as protein and many micronutrients, including vitamin D, vitamin E, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium than when MF were consumed. For children, daily diets containing these foods had significantly more iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin E, riboflavin, and vitamin B-6 than did recall days with no TF. It is very clear that traditional ASF are extremely important for dietary quality in Arctic populations when MF are the major source of energy.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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FOOTNOTES |
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2 Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health (IAPH) and Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (INMD).
6 Abbreviations used: ASF, animal-source foods; CINE, Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment; MF, market food; NWT, Northwest Territories; TF, traditional food.
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LITERATURE CITED |
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TOPABSTRACTLITERATURE CITED |
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