Harriet V Kuhnlein

• McGill University

Dr Doris Howes Calloway had a keen interest in nutritionally vulnerable populations in North America and around the world. Given her scientific reputation and interests, she advised many national and international agencies on improving the health and well-being of populations at increased risk of malnutrition. In North America, she and her graduate...

Food composition tables (FCTs) provide the levels of nutrients and other components in foods. Researchers, dietitians, educators, the food industry, and consumers use these tables to convert food intakes into nutrient intakes to evaluate foods, meals, and diets or to plan feeding programs. Doris Howes Calloway, along with her graduate students, mad...

Indigenous Peoples' food systems contain extensive and sophisticated knowledge that is often undocumented and underutilized in contemporary society that has increasingly poor nutrition and loss of food biodiversity. Indigenous Peoples in all global regions are among the most vulnerable to marginalization, food insecurity and chronic disease and wil...

Fruit and vegetable consumption is recommended in numerous food-based dietary guidelines and forms a key recommendation in many international statements related to healthy diets. There are thousands of fruit and vegetable species from which to choose, but despite this abundance from nature populations in most countries neither produce nor consume t...

The knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities play critical roles in safeguarding the biological and cultural diversity of our planet. Globalization, government policies, capitalism, colonialism, and other rapid social-ecological changes threaten the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and local communities an...

Two conference breakout sessions at the 2017 Second Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition focused on the reasons and methods to document traditional food systems. The sessions included examples from 4 communities of Indigenous Peoples. A total of 60 participants discussed their thoughts and experiences within their communities on documenti...

Abstract Background Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is the top dietary source of iron and several micronutrients necessary for red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the contemporary diet of Inuit adults across Canada. Many caribou populations across the circumpolar north, however, have experienced dramatic declines in recent decades. Restricted...

Executive summary Malnutrition in all its forms, including obesity, undernutrition, and other dietary risks, is the leading cause of poor health globally. In the near future, the health effects of climate change will considerably compound these health challenges. Climate change can be considered a pandemic because of its sweeping effects on the he...

This book takes a transdisciplinary approach and considers multisectoral actions, integrating health, agriculture, environment, economy, and socio-cultural issues, to comprehensively explore the topic of sustainable diets. Consideration is given to the multi-dimensional nature of diets and food systems, and the book explores the challenging issues...

Vitamin D intake by Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Arctic - Volume 21 Issue 11 - Harriet V Kuhnlein

Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems: Gender Roles, Biodiversity, and Food Security. Guest Editors: Harriet V. Kuhnlein and Heather B. Leach. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 13(Suppl.3) Publication of this supplement was supported by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mcn.2017.13.issue-S3/issueto...

Objective To characterize the major components of the contemporary Inuit diet and identify the primary sources of energy and essential nutrients. Design Dietary data were derived from the 24 h recall collected by the Inuit Health Survey (IHS) from 2007 to 2008. The population proportion method was used to determine the percentage contribution of e...

A community‐based cross‐sectional study was carried out with 603 children ages 5 and under and 500 of their mothers from 510 households to examine the prevalence of undernutrition and chronic diseases among the Khasis of North‐East India. Anthropometric measurements including Mid‐Upper Arm Circumference, height, and weight were taken. Dry blood spo...

Despite the importance of the nutritional status and food systems of Indigenous Peoples, the subject has received very little attention, especially in North‐East India. Therefore, a community‐based cross‐sectional descriptive study was carried out among Chakhesang mothers with children under 5 years of age to evaluate their nutritional status and p...

Indigenous Peoples in Latin America bear a disproportionate burden of undernutrition, yet traditional foods, including wild leafy greens, can contribute nutritional value to diets. As part of a community nutrition intervention using local foods in highland Tungurahua, Ecuador, mothers' groups promoted the consumption of wild leafy greens through co...

A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out with 603 children ages 5 and under and 500 of their mothers from 510 households to examine the prevalence of undernutrition and chronic diseases among the Khasis of North-East India. Anthropometric measurements including Mid-Upper Arm Circumference, height, and weight were taken. Dry blood spo...

Traditional knowledge and practice of Indigenous Peoples related to their food use and well-being is a wealth of information for academic study and for public health nutrition. Despite unique long-evolved heritages of knowledge of ecosystem resources, Indigenous Peoples comprise 15% of the global poor, but only 5% of the world's population, and the...

ndigenous Peoples have an implicit understanding of food security and sustainable diets derived from place-based knowledge and livelihoods spanning thousands of years. Informed by their local knowledge and guided by conceptions of living well, Indigenous Peoples are the custodians of a large part of the world’s biodiversity and natural resources. R...

Northeast India, home to more than 200 diverse tribes with distinct cultural, linguistic, religious and historical background is considered one of the most diverse regions of the world. The paper presents the indigenous food system in Northeast India, the diversity of the food resources, their nutritional attributes and the impact of their use on f...

Tribal communities in India are 8.6 % of the national population- an estimated 104 million people. The Khasi in Meghalaya State is among the largest tribal cultures and is well-known for unique matrilineal and matrilocal patterns. Women head households and enjoy positions of importance and dignity as preservers of clan, family and lineage. The youn...

Background and objectives: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Voices of the Hungry (VOH) developed an experience-based measure called the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). The FIES consists of a set of eight questions that focus on reported food-related behaviours associated with difficulties in accessing food due to resource constr...

Background and objectives: The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. The study was undertaken to assess household’s food insecurity and undernutrition among under 5 year children in West Khasi district of Megh...

Objective: Underweight and stunting are serious problems in Ecuador that require interventions in the first 2 years of life. The researchers assessed the effectiveness of a Positive Deviance (PD)/Hearth community-based intervention using local foods to improve infant and young children's nutrition. Design: A quasi-experimental nonrandomized stud...

Objective: To identify correlates of hemoglobin (Hb) and anaemia unexplained by iron deficiency (UA) in Canadian Inuit adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey assessed diet, demographic information, anthropometry, fasting Hb, ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (on a subset), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in serum, red blood...

The first two years of life are critical for growth and development. Little is known about infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in the Ecuadorian highlands and how they contribute to stunting. With the objective of understanding nutritional status and the influencing factors to design an intervention, we assessed the nutritional status o...

Public health nutritionists rely on anthropometry for nutritional assessment, program planning, and evaluation. Children are usually heavily clothed at high altitudes and in cold climates. Failing to adjust for clothing weight could underestimate malnutrition prevalence. The objective of this paper is to validate an adjustment process for estimatin...

To describe how Indigenous Peoples understand how to enhance use of their food systems to promote sustainability, as demonstrated in several food-based interventions. Comments contributed by partners from case studies of Indigenous Peoples and their food systems attending an international meeting were implemented with public health interventions at...

For millennia, communities of Indigenous Peoples have been the custodians of the vast majority of the planet’s food and genetic resources and stewards of the diverse ecosystems and cultures which have shaped these resources. Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are remarkably diverse and represent important repositories of knowledge from long-evolved c...

Food insecurity is a compelling global problem with compound causation in population expansion, industrialization of agriculture and food marketing, and environmental deterioration. The United Nations system has addressed the need for food and nutrition security from a foundation of human rights law and expressed the requirement for all people to b...

This study explored the role of wild foods in the diets of children and mothers in the East Usambara Mountains (N = 274 dyads). We identified 92 wild food species. Although dietary diversity (most measures) was not different between seasons, wild foods accounted for a greater percentage of items consumed in the wet (food insecure) season. Many wild...

ABSTRACT Indigenous Peoples’ food systems benefit the health of Indigenous Peoples. Recognizing that contemporary diets are composed of both local foods and food purchased in markets, it is important to build community nutrition activities in indigenous communities to maximize the health benefits of both kinds of foods. The Nuxalk Food and Nutriti...

Background High rates of iron deficiency and anemia are common among Inuit and Arctic women despite a traditional diet based on animal source foods. However, representative data on iron status and relevant determinants for this population are lacking. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of anemia and depletion of iron stores, then to id...

Approximations of retinol (A), cholecalciferol (D), and α-tocopherol (E) in frequently consumed traditional Arctic food were made and applied to dietary analysis within a large-scale effort to assess nutrient adequacy of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Arctic. A total of 180 independent samples of Arctic traditional food species expected to be r...

Accelerated loss of traditional lifestyles may place Inuit at risk of iron depletion given that anemia has been observed among Arctic men. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of anemia, storage iron depletion, and iron overload and to identify correlates of iron status in Canadian Inuit men. In a cross-sectional survey of...

The International Polar Year (IPY) Inuit Health Survey provided an opportunity to compare dietary and body mass index (BMI) data with data collected a decade earlier for the same communities. A dietary survey included 1,929 randomly selected participants aged 15 years or older, selected from 18 Inuit communities in 1998-1999. The IPY survey include...

Methods ResultsReflectionsReferences

The study objective was to understand the role of traditional Awajún foods in dietary quality and the potential impacts on growth of Awajún infants and young children 0-23 months of age. Research took place in April and May of 2004, along the Cenepa River in six Awajún communities. Anthropometry estimated nutritional status for 32 infants (0-23 mon...

Accelerated loss of traditional lifestyles may place Inuit at risk of iron depletion, given that anemia has been frequently observed. Study objectives were to determine the prevalence of anemia, storage iron depletion and iron overload; and to identify correlates of iron status in Canadian Inuit adults. In a cross‐sectional survey of 2550 adults, h...

This book, inclusive of 19 chapters, provides discussions on the benefits and limitations of food-based approaches for the prevention and control of micronutrient malnutrition. Different chapters focus on specific relevant topics, including current developments in food-based approaches and their program applications, relevance of agricultural inter...

The island state of Pohnpei, Micronesia, has experienced much change in diet and lifestyle since the 1970s. Serious problems of micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable disease such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer have emerged, following the neglect of traditional local foods and the shift to rice and imported processed foods. An aware...

Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) faces increasing rates of non-communicable diseases related to the neglect of the traditional food system and the shift to consumption of imported food and adoption of sedentary lifestyles. To reverse this trend, a two-year, food-based intervention in one Pohnpeian community in FSM promoted local food production...

This paper presents a summary of Pohnpei, Federated States Micronesia's involvement in a global health study focused on documenting traditional food systems in different parts of the world and providing evidence that local resources are critical for food security, nutrition and health. The Pohnpei study was based in Mand Community, Madolenihmw. The...

Micronutrient deficiency, namely: vitamin A, iron, iodine, zinc and burden of chronic diseases are prevalent. Eight communities selected from four States were used for this study. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions, nutrient composition and food intakes were used to ascertain use of local foods by households. Nutrient analysis on foo...

The case studies presented in this book show the wealth of knowledge in indigenous communities in diverse ecosystems, the richness of their food resources, the strengths of the local traditional food systems, how people think about and use these foods, the influx of industrial and purchased food, and the circumstances of the nutrition transition in...

Food systems of Indigenous Peoples who retain connection to long-evolved cultures and patterns of living in local ecosystems present a treasure of knowledge that contributes to well-being and health, and can benefit all humankind. This book seeks to define and describe the diversity in food system use, nutrition and health in 12 rural case studies...

To assess the diet of Indigenous women, including pregnant and lactating women, in the Canadian Arctic in terms of dietary adequacy, and to assess the contribution of traditional food to the diet. Population-based cross-sectional design, using 24-hour dietary recalls. METHODS; Twenty-four hour quantitative dietary recalls were collected in 47 commu...

Traditional food resources of indigenous peoples provide a wealth of information on use of unique food species, and their harvest and preparation. In conjunction with a larger study associated with the Northern Contaminants Program, traditional food items most frequently consumed in Inuit, Dene/Metis and Yukon First Nations communities of the Canad...

Anemia is a serious concern among indigenous populations in North America, and it appears to be widespread among the Inuit despite abundant intakes of heme iron. It is therefore hypothesized that anemia for the Inuit involves other dietary factors not usually associated with animal foods, such as low intakes of vitamin A and/or folate, riboflavin,...

Information is needed on dietary adequacy of Arctic indigenous populations in Canada. Extensive work has been completed on composition of Arctic food and food use, and dietary reference intakes are available. To complete the first comprehensive dietary adequacy assessment of three populations of adult Arctic indigenous people. Dietary assessment in...

Our goal was to assess the potential for evaluating strengths of the Awajún traditional food system using dietary assessment, a traditional food diversity score and ranking of local foods. The method was used for dietary data obtained from mothers and children in the Awajún culture of the Peruvian Amazon where >90% of the dietary energy is derived...

In indigenous communities the nutrition transition characterized by a rapid westernization of diet and lifestyle is associated with rising prevalence of chronic disease. Field work and literature reviews from two different policy environments, Argentina (Jujuy) and Canada (Nunavut), identified factors that add to indigenous peoples’ disease risk. T...

Rationale. To understand the role of traditional foods in dietary quality and child growth, Awajún infant and young child feeding practices and nutritional status must be established. Methods. Research took place in 6 Awajún communities, Cenepa, Peru. Mothers completed repeat dietary recalls and infant feeding histories for their children (n= 32, 0...

The Igbos live in southeastern Nigeria and number over 23 million with population densities ranging from 300 to over 1000 persons per kilometer, the highest in West Africa. As a first step towards solving the problems of stunting and micronutrient deficiency, this study sought to document traditional foods in terms of availability in seasons and th...

This is a short report of a 'safari' held in conjunction with the International Congress of Nutrition in September 2005, in Futululu, St. Lucia, South Africa. Participants were several members of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Task Force on Indigenous Peoples' Food Systems and Nutrition, other interested scientists and members of t...

Identifying Indigenous Peoples globally is complex and contested despite there being an estimated 370 million living in 70 countries. The specific context and use of locally relevant and clear definitions or characterizations of Indigenous Peoples is important for recognizing unique health risks Indigenous Peoples face, for understanding local Indi...

The objective was to explore some typically understudied characteristics of food security in Arctic Canada: observed changes to traditional food systems, perceived advantages and health benefits of traditional food and traditional food preferences. Data analysis used a cross-sectional survey of Yukon First Nations, Dene/Métis and Inuit women in 44...

Awajun* Indigenous People live along the Rio Cenepa in the Peruvian Amazon. This article describes the Awajun traditional food system ( TFS) and defines its nutritional importance. Nutritional status of women and young children were assessed using anthropometry. Dietary intakes were recorded using repeat 24- hour recalls. Anthropometry suggested a...

Food systems of Canadian Arctic Indigenous Peoples contain many species of traditional animal and plant food, but the extent of use today is limited because purchased food displaces much of the traditional species from the diet. Frequency and 24-h dietary interviews of Arctic adults and children were used to investigate these trends. The most frequ...

Intakes of energy, protein, iron and vitamin A in India are usually reported as inadequate. Recognizing that traditional food systems are sustainable, high in species variety, and have rich nutrient sources, we compared dietary intakes and nutrient sources of Dalit mothers and their children living in villages with and without an intervention based...

The food supply of Inuit living in Nunavut, Canada, is characterized by market food of relatively low nutritional value and nutrient-dense traditional food. The objective of this study is to assess community perceptions about the availability and accessibility of traditional and market foods in Nunavut. A qualitative study using focus group methodo...

To describe prevalence of malnutrition and their correlates of nutrient and traditional food consumption in rural Dalit mothers. In a cross-sectional study, we used socio-cultural questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and clinical eye examinations during the rainy season in 2003. Food frequency questionnaires and 24-h recalls were conducted d...

This study aimed to evaluate the access that Indigenous women have to traditional and market foods in 44 communities across Arctic Canada. This secondary data analysis used a cross-sectional survey of 1771 Yukon First Nations, Dene/Métis and Inuit women stratified by age. Socio-cultural questionnaires were used to investigate food access and chi-sq...

Both strontium and lead are geologically present in the Hopi area, but only strontium accumulates in culturally important food plants in the agicultural setting. Lead from natural sources is present in traditional ceramics and culinary ash. In native maize corn foods, iron content was elevated several-fold during home processing. The nutritional en...

The objectives of this paper are to: assess the impact of exposure to current levels of environmental contaminants in the Canadian Arctic on human health; identify the data and knowledge gaps that need to be filled by future human health research and monitoring; examine how these issues have changed since our first assessment [Van Oostdam, J., Gilm...

To describe food use of Dene/Métis and Yukon children with focus on food sources--traditional food (TF) and market food (MF), season, gender and location. Children of 10-12 years of age were interviewed for 24-h recalls (n = 222 interviews) in five communities during two seasons in 2000-2001. Differences in children's food and nutrient intakes when...

To describe nutrient intakes and anthropometry of 10-12-year-old Dene/Métis and Yukon children in the Canadian Arctic. 24 h-recall interviews (n = 222 interviews) were conducted on Canadian Dene/Métis and Yukon children in five communities during two seasons in 2000-2001; the children were measured for height and weight (n = 216). Assessment of nut...

Body mass index (BMI) is a widely used body weight classification system but has known limitations, and may need to be adjusted for sitting height in order to be useful as an indicator of health risks in special populations. Data confirm that Inuit and Far East Asians have shorter legs and relatively higher sitting heights compared with all other p...

Chronic non-communicable diseases related to excessive or unbalanced dietary intakes are on the rise among some Indigenous populations in Canada. Nutritional problems of Indigenous peoples arise in the transition from a traditional diet to a market diet characterized by highly processed foods with reduced nutrient density. This study aimed at asses...

In most developing countries, women receive less food than men, both in absolute terms and in relation to their nutritional needs. However, they spend more time in total productive work than men. One way to supplement women’s nutritional needs is to use locally accessible and sustainable food commonly known as “traditional food.” To examine this co...

Karat banana, pulque prepared from Agave species, and gac fruit are three traditional local food items recently studied intensively for their nutrition potential among traditional and indigenous peoples, and are examples of how local food-based strategies can be used to ensure micronutrient nutrition. Successful health promotion and intervention pr...

Inuit traditional food provides ample amounts of preformed vitamin A. However, the dietary transition away from traditional food raises concerns regarding dietary adequacy. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient with inadequate and excessive exposures having adverse effects. To evaluate total dietary vitamin A intake for Canadian Inuit from market food...

Indigenous Peoples globally are part of the nutrition transition. They may be among the most extreme for the extent of dietary change experienced in the last few decades. In this paper, we report survey data from 44 representative communities from 3 large cultural areas of the Canadian Arctic: the Yukon First Nations, Dene/Métis, and Inuit communit...

The diet of Mohawk children (grades 4 through 6) was assessed using 24-hour recalls after 4 years' participation in the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project. Analysis compared mean intakes of energy, fat, and sucrose, and proportions of children consuming each food. No significant difference was found in the mean intake of energy, fat, and...

This paper describes cultural and ecological characteristics of Northwest African and Middle Eastern food patterns and discusses the forces contributing to rapid dietary change. Focus is given to indigenous/tribal/ethnic/minorities in these areas with contributions to definitions of these groups, the extent of their diversity, and the importance of...

Traditional food resources of indigenous peoples provide a wealth of information on use of unique food species, and their harvest and preparation. Studying the nutrient contents of these food items presents several challenges; for example, adequate sampling to define variability, and conducting multiple nutrient analyses in limited sample portions....

Vitamin C values for 37 traditional foods (TFs) of the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic and women's intakes from TF and market food (MF) are reported. This is the first report on vitamin C values in several traditional food samples. There are a variety of rich sources of vitamin C from animal and plant food with the most notable among items with multip...

Traditional food resources of indigenous peoples provide a wealth of information on use of unique food species, and their harvest and preparation. Studying the nutrient contents of these food items presents several challenges; for example, adequate sampling to define variability, and conducting multiple nutrient analyses in limited sample portions....