Study will provide a baseline on health

The First Nations Food, Nutrition, and Environment Study will document both the nutritional benefits of First Nations diets and food and water, as well as the impacts caused by exposures to environmental contaminants in Ontario, reports the Assembly of First Nations.

AFN Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse believes the study “will help shed light on the concerns our citizens have here in Ontario regarding contamination of water and traditional foods and will explore the health benefits of maintaining a traditional diet.”

He said the study will provide valuable baseline data that First Nations can use into the future.

There are five components to the study: household dietary interviews, tap water sampling for trace metals, surface water sampling for pharmaceuticals and their metabolites, hair sampling for mercury exposure and traditional food sampling for nutrient and contaminant content.

The study will gather information from 100 randomly selected First Nations communities across Canada about:

• Current traditional and store-bought food use
• Food security issues
• Traditional foods for nutrient values and contaminant content
• Trace metals in drinking water
• Pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in surface water

The study, launched in British Columbia in 2008, completed research in 21 BC First Nations communities and produced a report representative for BC First Nations as a whole.

Data is still being analyzed for the nine First Nations communities in Manitoba who participated and will be presented back to the communities once completed.
In Ontario, about 18 communities will be invited to participate over a two year period starting this summer.

The research will be conducted in compliance with the principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession.
The Assembly of First Nations has partnered with the University of Northern British Columbia and the Université de Montréal in the study.