World Nutrition
|
|
|
Volume 1, Number 2, June 2010
Journal of the World Public Health Nutrition
Association
Published monthly at www.wphna.org
The Association is an affiliated body of the
International Union of Nutritional Sciences
For membership and for other contributions, news,
columns and services, go to: www.wphna.org
|
|
Commentary |
Here is the good news
|
|
|
|
Harriet V. Kuhnlein
Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and
Environment (CINE)
McGill University
Montréal, Québec, Canada
Biography posted at www.wphna.org
Email: harriet.kuhnlein@mcgill.ca
Web: www.mcgill.ca/CINE
Web: www.indigenousnutrition.org
|
Access the pdf of this commentary here
|
Introduction
|
|
|
This picture, of an Inuit girl and
her friend in Pangnirtung, Nunavut,
Northern Canada, and the picture on
the cover of this month’s issue of
World Nutrition, of three
girls of the Awajún community of
Nuevo Tutino, Perú, for me shows
what public health nutrition is all
about. For me and the team I have
been proud and privileged to work
with over 30 years at CINE at McGill
University, good nutrition is simply
part of the good life well led.
It’s more than this, too. The work
we do at CINE is with the ‘original
peoples’ or ‘First Nations’: ancient
populations and indigenous
communities. CINE has this focus for
a number of reasons. People who, as
we would say ‘live close to nature’,
do not make the distinctions most
‘civilised’ people make, between the
living and the dead, between humans
and other living things, or between
the living and natural environment.
They see food differently from most
of us with formal training in
biology. For them, their food
systems and diets are part of their
ways of life, and have profound
philosophical, cultural and social
significance. Foreign ‘experts’ may
do great damage, by telling them to
conform to modern dietary and
medical guidelines. If they accept
such advice they may be less likely
to suffer some nutrient
deficiencies, but they are also
likely to lose the sense of meaning
and harmony of their lives in the
cultural ecosystems within their
communities, which is, I believe,
more serious.
It’s more than this, too. A large
number of Association members are
associated with ‘The
New Nutrition project’ which
recognises that nutrition is a
social, economic and environmental
as well as a biological science. I
agree with this view, and the people
I work with don’t need to be told
something so obvious. One of the
principles of the NNSp relevant to
my work is that ‘Food and nutrition
practices constantly followed in
different cultures in history are
probably valid – though not
necessarily for the reasons given.
They do not require proof to be
accepted, but disproof to be
rejected’. My inclination, and that
of very many colleagues, is to have
confidence that pre-industrial
peoples know what they are doing,
and also in many ways they not only
know what is best for them better
than we do, but also have much to
teach us, if we are prepared to pay
respectful attention.
WN editor Geoffrey Cannon has
an example of this, which is also
relevant to the debate in these
pages about the best ways to prevent
vitamin A deficiency, which in
severe cases causes blindness. In
Brazil, where he lives and works,
there are impoverished regions where
vitamin A deficiency remains a
public health problem. The usual
approach is by use of capsules
containing massive doses of vitamin
A. But in these very regions there
are indigenous trees and bushes
whose fruits – buriti, pequi,
and others – are intensely rich in
carotenoids. The point here, is that
it must be certain that the original
Brazilians, who were either
exterminated or driven off these
lands, will have known of the
qualities of these fruits, and will
have cultivated, harvested and eaten
them – because people who live in
nature without electrical power need
to see at night. That is to say, the
solution to vitamin A deficiency in
Brazil is growing on the trees and
bushes, in those areas where
children are still now suffering.
All that is needed here is for
public health nutritionists,
agriculturists, and civil society
organisations in Brazil to pay
attention to what is in front of
their eyes.
This commentary is a celebration. I
cannot thank enough, the hundreds
and thousands of people all over the
world who have made rich
contributions to CINE’s work. In
offering this commentary to WN, I am
inviting all its readers concerned
with public health and with
nutrition all over the world, to
consider that populations and
communities with a long history of
living in natural ecosystems, and
who revere tradition, have knowledge
and wisdom which we need to respect
and acknowledge.
It’s also more than this, too. I
guess that most WN readers are, as
professionals, parents, friends, and
citizens, intensely concerned about
our planet’s natural biodiversity –
the threat to and survival of
animals and plants – the fish,
birds, mammals, insects, fungi,
lichens, algae, trees and shrubs
that provide edible meats, fruits,
vegetables, seeds, nuts, roots and
other parts-– and about our physical
environment and the biosphere. So am
I. We also need to be intensely
concerned about ‘other’ human
communities, who generally remain
overlooked, pushed aside, and
practically unknown. They do not
have seats on the United Nations
Security Council, but they do, in my
very sincere judgment, understand
better how to live on this earth now
than do most of us. I hope, in this
commentary and in the other work
that I share, that I am a steadfast
witness.
|
|
The good news
|
As public health nutritionists, we
are all working to ‘make nutrition
better’ and ‘improve lives’ of the
people with whom we engage; but all
too often we are caught up with the
bad news, the perspective that
health is about medicine and ‘fixing
thing’. Then in our enthusiasm we
often approach communities (often
cross-culturally) in a way that
creates the response ‘…here they
come again, wanting us to do this
and do that because our children and
families are so unhealthy…’ Think
about it…put yourself in their
shoes.
The Centre for Indigenous Peoples’
Nutrition and Environment (CINE)
based at McGill University in
Montreal has been very fortunate to
have the participation and guidance
over the years of many indigenous
leaders, from communities requesting
nutrition and health services;
individuals who have helped us
approach unique and difficult
nutrition issues with their
communities who have been fighting
for hundreds of years to maintain
their cultures, including their own
food and health systems. The
‘mainstream’ scientists, often from
government offices, are not easily
trusted to ‘fix’ something,
especially when these outsiders are
deciding what it is that needs
fixing
|
|
Key
messages
- Be
open to the views of the people with whom
you are working, especially about their
foods.
-
Remember that the food people eat touches
the mental, emotional and spiritual, as well
as the physical, sides of their health.
-
Balance messages of risk with messages of
benefits about the food people are eating.
Good news helps – ‘You get more with honey
than with vinegar’.
-
Indigenous Peoples’ food systems are filled
with unique and biodiverse foods that are
nutritionally rich, socially acceptable,
economically sensible, and sustainable.
- A good
participatory approach to community research
is essential for success – start with some
good news.
|
Indigenous Peoples have shared their knowledge
and interpretations of health, and these are
very much in line with the WHO definition of
health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being’. (For a definition of
‘Indigenous Peoples’ please see:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/sowip.html)
Thus, public health scientists, especially
public health nutritionists, are implored to be
open to new ideas and unique ways of
interpreting health from the mental, physical,
emotional and spiritual sides – all at the same
time—and the need for balance in considering the
benefits of indigenous wellness activities with
the risks faced from health threats.
It was during my doctoral studies with the Hopi
in Arizona that I became convinced that the good
news about traditional food needs to be used to
build health promotion activities. I found that
the traditional whole grain blue maize and ash
Hopi bread was extremely rich in nutrients,
while the use of traditional maize foods was
becoming less frequent at the same time that
diabetes was rapidly increasing. So I visited
the local Indian Health service physician to ask
about how to better promote the excellent
traditional Hopi foods. My request was met with
stony amazement. He said that the worst thing
for diabetes was to eat these awful traditional
foods that are so full of carbohydrates. It was
then I realised that traditional foods of
Indigenous Peoples needed to be documented and
the information on their many nutritional and
wellness benefits shared widely.
In this commentary, as you see, I have given
pride of place to brief stories of the
Indigenous Peoples with whom we at CINE work.
The stories are, after all, theirs. I have also
begun with some ‘take-home’ bullet points. Much
more information is available at our website:
www.mcgill.ca/CINE, and at
www.indigenousnutrition.org.
|
Inuit,
Nunavut, Canada
-
Nutritional benefits of local Inuit foods
outweigh the risks of contaminants in these
foods throughout the Canadian Arctic.
- Diets
containing one or more items of traditional
food were superior in nutrient content than
diets without any traditional foods. Similar
research findings were shown for other
Canadian Indigenous Peoples .
- Sea
mammal fats are excellent sources of
fat-soluble vitamins, including retinol,
tocopherol, and cholecalciferol (vitamins A,
E and D).
|
|
Ice fishing, seal, and narwhal muktuk (blubber)
in Nunavut, Arctic Canada
CINE has contributed a great deal of research
with Inuit and First Nations People in Northern
Canada since the mid-1980s. Several community
leaders have engaged with CINE during this
period, representing the Dene Nation, Yukon
First Nations and the Inuit of the Inuvialuit
Settlement Region, Nunavut and Labrador.
CINE/McGill based professors conducting this
research are Dr. Olivier Receveur
(epidemiologist) and Dr. Laurie Chan
(toxicologist), and Dr. Grace Egeland
(epidemiologist) who leads the International
Polar Year projects with Inuit and including Ms.
Looee Okalik as community leader partner. Over
50 rural and remote communities have
participated with these efforts.
It was recognised early on that the nutritional
benefits of local Inuit foods far outweigh the
risks of contaminants in these foods that
originate from industrial activities in the
South and carried into the Arctic in air and
ocean currents. In fact, diets containing one or
more items of traditional food were superior in
nutrient content than diets without any
traditional foods, being comprised solely of
purchased foods. This finding was demonstrated
for all the three cultural groups across the
Canadian North.
Food composition research conducted at CINE
demonstrated the excellent sources of nutrients
found in wildlife animal and plant foods. In
particular, sea mammals such as seal and
narwhal, shown here, are excellent sources of
fat-soluble vitamins, including retinol,
tocopherol, and cholecalciferol (vitamins A, E
and D).
Intervention activities based in the local food
system are currently hampered by concerns for
climate change, thinning ice, and difficulties
conducting traditional harvesting practices.
Nevertheless, there has been success in
education efforts where stories of elders are
recorded and transmitted with innovative media
to youth through school programmes and the local
youth council. Several graduate students have
been involved in these efforts. |
Some think this type of work with Indigenous
Peoples is steeped in the ‘romantic’ notion that
we need to return to the past to solve the
world’s problems. Of course this is not the
case. Rather, we need to avoid scientific
imperialism and to be challenged to find the
inherent values of diverse approaches to human
sustenance, often in extreme and harsh
environments, that are provided by people living
close to nature with historical ties to their
ancestors’ knowledge of linking their living
with nature with culture. Further, if we are
serious about improving public health nutrition
for Indigenous Peoples, who are among the
poorest and most in need of health services,
then the benefits of existing (pre-intervention)
circumstances must be recognised, reinforced and
maximised in development strategies while new
therapies and helpful behaviours are introduced.
Derrick and Patrice Jelliffe long ago called our
attention to the problems in Africa caused by
trying to feed babies ‘the modern way’ which
resulted in ‘commerciogenic malnutrition’(1).
Their advice to public health nutritionists was
to support the positive local beliefs and
practices that are known to be good, to ignore
the practices that you are unsure about, and to
try to change only those practices that cause
outright harm to children. Today the benefits of
breastfeeding are universally recognized, but we
are in the midst of controversies on the ‘best’
complementary food and feeding practices for
infants and young children (local or
industrially produced and imported food? revised
parental feeding strategies?).
|
Pohnpei,
Micronesia
- The
islands of the Federated States of
Micronesia are rich in the biodiversity of
local foods. More than 380
species/varieties/cultivars of local foods
are documented.
- Many
varieties/cultivars and subspecies of taro,
yams, breadfruit, banana, and pandanus are
found in Pohnpei with excellent sources of
many nutrients.
- The
Island Food Community of Pohnpei works
closely with many branches of state and
national government, NGOs and foundations to
promote local foods.
-
Several other Pacific nations have requested
similar local food programmes.
|
|
Woman and baby with Karat banana, a healthy
complementary food very rich in carotene. This
photograph taken by Lois Englberger was used for
a national postage stamp in the Federated States
of Micronesia.
The Pohnpei project is located in Pohnpei State
of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM),
approximately on the equator in the western
Pacific Ocean. The Island Food Community of
Pohnpei (IFCP) is an NGO that has worked with
CINE for approximately six years. While many
community leaders are involved in the project,
the IFCP community leader is Mr. Adelino Lorens
and the academic partner based with IFCP is Dr.
Lois Englberger. More than 380 food
species/varieties/cultivars are documented in
Pohnpei, and serve as the foundation of
intervention activities to improve health
emphasizing the local food system.
In particular, varieties/cultivars and
subspecies of taro, yams, breadfruit, banana,
and pandanus are unique foods found in Pohnpei
which are excellent sources of many nutrients.
The IFCP works closely with many branches of
state and national government, NGOs, and
foundations to secure the resources to promote
local foods.
The project evolved through concerns about the
recent nutrition transition, and that overweight
or obesity (which affect 70% of women and 60% of
men) and vitamin A deficiency among children,
were documented simultaneously with concerns
that people were changing their ways of life and
using less of their local foods than formerly.
The project has included a wealth of activities:
workshops, billboards, media messages including
email, print, DVDs, radio and TV, activities in
schools at all levels, etc. CINE/McGill graduate
student Laura Kaufer conducted an assessment of
impact of the IFCP activities in the community
of Mand, Pohnpei. The photo included herewas
used as a national postage stamp sent by FSM
citizens all over the world. A good example of
the project’s success is that the other states
of the FSM and several Pacific nations have
requested similar local food programmes. |
The documentation of benefits and risks of
pre-mastication of infant foods (2, 3) and
potential promotion of this practice is a
current controversy worthy of attention and
reflection on the evidence. In CINE’s work with
indigenous communities in developing areas we
encounter many cultures that practice
pre-mastication of high quality animal and plant
foods for young children. We’ve also learned
that public health professionals in these areas
often discourage this practice as ‘unhygienic’,
giving women the impression that they just need
to be taught how to feed their babies ‘properly’
(as defined by the outsiders).
Indigenous Peoples in their rural homelands are
the source of great wealth of information on
biodiversity of food species and practices that
support good health. This news is welcomed in
our modern world with international cuisines,
‘Slow Food’ celebrations, and delight in unique
fruits and vegetables transported at great cost
from around the world. At the same time,
concerns for the nutrition transition and
obesogenic environments of children in both
developed and developing countries command
attention. Dr David Kessler’s challenge (noted
in Geoffrey
Cannon’s column on our Association website
in April) to the food industry to curb the
sweet, salt and fat imperatives to appetites,
has resulted in the need (and success!) of the
Jamie Oliver Food Revolution in the British and
North American schools and public consciousness
(4). Jamie Oliver’s recent American TV reality
show masterfully demonstrates the power of the
intermittent positive ‘good news’ approach in
the midst of appalling statistics on obesity and
health.
|
Dalit,
Andhra Pradesh, India
- The
traditional Dalit food systems in the
Zaheerabad area, near Hyderabad in the State
of Andhra Pradesh, contains more than 320
species/varieties of cereals, pulses,
millets, oil seeds, fruits, vegetables,
roots, tubers and greens
- This
diversity of foods presents a rich supply of
micronutrients.
- Many
traditional foods are uncultivated and
harvested as ‘weeds’ by women who work as
agricultural labourers.
- Many
foods are also used for their medicinal
properties.
|
|
Realising some of the great diversity in
whole grains and legumes in the Zaheerabad Dalit
food system
This project takes place in the Zaheerabad
region of Medak District in the State of Andhra
Pradesh in India. This is a semi-arid region
near Hyderabad, the State capital city. Rural
development activities through the Deccan
Development Society (DDS) have taken place for
many years with the Dalit (the scheduled caste
representing the untouchables) women farmers,
most of whom are landless and illiterate.
Activities with CINE began with Mr. Periyapatna
Satheesh, and Ms. Buduru Salomeyesudas who
helped develop the methodology for documenting
traditional food systems (now published at
http://www.mcgill.ca/cine/research/global/
).
The traditional Dalit food system in this area
contains more than 320 species/ varieties of
cereals, pulses, millets, oil seeds, fruits,
vegetables, roots, tubers and greens, which is a
great diversity of plant foods that presents a
rich supply of micronutrients. Many traditional
foods are either wild or uncultivated ‘weeds’
harvested by the women who work as agricultural
labourers. Scientific documentation of all
species and varieties and food composition
research has been made through the laboratories
at the Indan National Institute of Nutrition,
which is in Hyderabad.
The DDS activities in promoting local foods have
been broad-reaching, and involve increasing
access to land by women farmers, education
activities in the community with women’s groups
and schools, media activities that include
training Dalit women in use of media equipment.
CINE/McGill graduate student Martina Schmid
assisted with evaluating the DDS activities in
promoting local foods.
Local knowledge of the Dalit includes the roles
that several of the uncultivated crops play as
medicines for common ailments, and to improve
availability of breastmilk for infants. |
Our programmatic work with 12 community areas of
Indigenous Peoples (5) reveals an astonishing
array of food species—up to 380 different
species/varieties/cultivars within a local food
system. There are many ways that these unique
and biodiverse food systems are nutritionally
rich, economically sensible, and sustainable;
but the total experience of harvesting and using
these foods touches the mental, physical,
emotional and spiritual worlds of these
communities. It is small wonder that Indigenous
Peoples strive to protect the land resources
that provide these benefits to daily life, and
that the traditional cultural foods are greatly
missed upon migration to urban areas.
Sharing the good news of rich biodiversity and
exceptional nutrient composition, and
information on economically sound and culturally
suitable foods in remote areas such as the
tropical forests of Kanchanburi, Thailand, the
Amazon basin, or Arctic tundra obviously
contributes power to trusting relationships and
partnerships in the research setting.
|
Awajún,
Perú
- The
Awajún have a rich traditional food system
available to them in the tropical rain
forest of the Amazon area of northern Perú,
including over 200 diverse species.
-
Women’s groups have been active in
developing education activities in
partnership with the Institute of Nutrition
in Lima to improve the health of young
children
- Animal
source foods are being promoted with fish
farms and suri gardens, and a pictorial book
of traditional foods is popular in the
communities.
|
|
Awajún mother and child from the Waiwaim
Cocoachi community in Perú
The Awajún are an indigenous group living
principally in the tropical rain forest of the
Cenepa area of the Department of Amazonas in
northern Perú. Changing ecological and cultural
conditions have accentuated chronic malnutrition
and anemia in young children. The academic
partner for this project is Hilary Creed-Kanashiro
from the International Institute of Nutrition (IIN)
in Lima and the community leader partner is Irma
Tuesta who works with the women’s groups in the
Cenepa River area. Engagement with CINE for a
project to promote local foods for health began
in six rural communities in 2004.
The food system is primarily subsistence
farming, hunting and fishing with very little
purchased food being used in the community,
although there have been food donations by
government or aid organisations. A total of 223
diverse food species/varieties have now been
documented for the Awajún, including roots,
tubers, birds, fish, green plants and fruits,
with the major sources of energy being from
cassava and banana. Several identifications of
food species were made and food composition data
derived for dietary analysis.
The project developed for the Awajún emphasises
increasing micronutrient intakes, particularly
for children with an emphasis on animal-source
foods. Graduate student Marion Roche
participated in the food and health baseline
documentation and community health promoters
have been trained and guided with assistance
from staff at the IIN. A popular book was
prepared for each of the participating
communities with descriptions and photos of each
of their foods. Education on the high nutrient
qualities of the local foods, and increasing
production of fish (fish farms) and suri
(popular and tasty larvae) are part of the
intervention activities. |
In CINE’s work in the Canadian Arctic, our first
success was to document the food systems and
nutrient components while engaging with research
strategies to define organochlorine and heavy
metal risks in the local food system. With
participation of indigenous leaders to gain
strong community support, the participation
rates in these studies were exceptionally high,
giving credibility to the results and the
process. Ultimately, the results confirmed that
the nutritional benefits of the local foods far
outweighed the contaminant risks (6).
Assessment of the nutritional properties of the
diets in the context of recommended intakes also
gave welcomed news. By dichotomising 24 hour
recalls into days with one or more servings of
the Inuit, Dene or Yukon First Nations local
foods in contrast to days without any local
food, it was possible to assess the nutrient
quality of the two types of diets. Consistently,
across the three cultures in the vast Canadian
Arctic, days with traditional food were
significantly higher in macro- and micro-
nutrient intakes in all age and gender
categories of adults (7).
|
Igbo, Nigeria
- A
large project to document the Igbo food
system was conducted in four states southern
Nigeria.
- Several climatic zones were included which
yielded food system data with more than 200
species/varieties, several being good
sources of carotenoids.
-
Widespread undernutrition was found for
young children less than 2 years of age but
little concern for children older than 6
years.
-
Project assistants included several
undergraduate and graduate students from the
University of Nigeria at Nsukka.
|
|
Girl with her
proud mother in the Igbo project, Nigeria
The Igbo project is led by Dr. Elizabeth (Chinwe)
Okeke and her colleagues ( Dr. Henrietta
Ene-Obong, Dr. Anthonia Uzuegbunam, Mr. Alfred
Ozioko, Mr. Simon Umeh and Ms. Nnaemeka
Chukwuone) at the University of Nigeria in
Nsukka. To document the traditional Igbo food
system two rural communities were randomly
selected from four states in southern Nigeria.
In each community the local chief was identified
for the partnership process.
The Igbo culture area has a diversity of
climatic zones including upland plains and the
delta of the Niger River, with soil erosion a
primary environmental concern. Education is not
universal, with limited infrastructure,
resulting in only 41 per cent of women aged 15
and older being literate (compared to 58 per
cent of men), but recent efforts report 77 per
cent enrolment in schools by girls and 84% of
boys.
The area is rich in food crops with more than
220 species documented. Yams, cocoyams, cassava,
and maize are staple crops, and other food
groups including legumes, seeds, nuts,
vegetables and wild fruits. Red palm oil is a
local indigenous food, that still contributes
70-85% of provitamin A intake. Taxonomic
identifications were made and food composition
studies undertaken by team members, including
women and girls from the communities for food
sampling and conducting of focus groups on
traditional practices.
Anthropometric data collection found widespread
undernutrition in children under 2 years of age,
but little or no concern for older children 6
years and older. The nutrition transition among
the Igbo is a concern with adults exhibiting
obesity. Project leaders are taking steps to
develop activities to enhance food security with
education and agricultural sustainability of
their local foods, along with food processing
technology that will help to lighten women’s
work. Four graduate students and three
undergraduate research students participated to
date from the University of Nigeria in Nsukka. |
I encourage all public health nutritionists who
are responsible for nutrition activities among
rural Indigenous Peoples to seek meaningful
experiences in the communities, get to know
people, and to be open to the positive nutrition
practices that can be found there. Take the time
to understand the local beliefs and practices
and to use this knowledge as a platform to
promote good nutrition and health. This is akin
to the ‘positive deviance’ approach where good
local practices are recognized and promoted in
the midst of trust and respect (8). With this
approach new and helpful essential messages can
be transmitted more easily to a more receptive
community.
Carrying through with positive and helpful
messaging in public health nutrition
interventions with Indigenous Peoples can be a
very rewarding experience (9). One might think
that approaches successful with any
disadvantaged group would be suitable in a
setting of Indigenous Peoples. This may be true
some of the time; but here I suggest that
efforts such as those noted above are needed to
address the circumstances Indigenous Peoples
face in rural areas – inaccessibility, need for
respect and protection of ecosystems and
culture, and often outright discrimination and
lack of services. On the other hand, if a
programme ‘works’ in a rural setting of
Indigenous Peoples it is very likely that
important lessons learned will benefit public
health practitioners working with any community
of disadvantaged people.
There are many ‘good news’ stories in all public
health settings that will bring smiles, and
thereby lighten the health promotion agenda.
|
|
How to be a
participant
It helps greatly to develop a good participatory
approach to community research and development
activities, by engaging with local community
leaders and health personnel to build nutrition
activities ‘from the bottom up’. The
participatory approach to health promotion and
development is essential in cross-cultural work.
Here are a few key questions (among many
possible – this is just a start ) that can
stimulate your thinking. Following these
principles will set the stage for good community
relations in research.
Do you have some positive health messages
about nutrition and community life?
Does the steering committee represent the grass
roots, with each culture represented, so that
the issues and views, local beliefs and
practices, of all can benefit the project?
Are research findings returned in understandable
language at the local level, with input sought
in their interpretation?
Is the current project a priority for the
community in the midst of their other concerns?
Can the research team respond to community
requests for assistance to their pressing
issues?
Are equitable benefits from the research
returned to the community as well as to the
research partners?
Will genuine and meaningful recognition be given
to community contributions of time, knowledge
and participation? |
References
- Jelliffe DB, Jelliffe EFP. Human Milk
in the Modern World: Psychosocial,
Nutritional and Economic Significance.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1978
- Pelto GH, Zhang Y, Habicht, J-P.
Premastication: the second arm of infant and
young child feeding for health and survival.
Maternal and Child Nutrition 2010;
6: 14-18.
- Habicht JP, Pelto GH . Premastication
and HIV. eLetter. Pediatrics 124
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/eletters/124/2/658
(accessed 16 April, 2010)
- Williams R. Jamie Oliver’s school
dinners shown to have improved academic
results. Education Guardian, 29 March
2010.
- Kuhnlein HV, Erasmus B, Spigelski, D.
Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems: the Many
Dimensions of Culture, Diversity and
Environment for Nutrition and Health.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0370e/i0370e00.htm
(accessed 14 April, 2010
- Kuhnlein HV, Chan HM. Environment and
contaminants in traditional food systems of
Northern Indigenous Peoples. Annual
Review of Nutrition 2000; 20:595-626.
- Kuhnlein HV, Receveur O, Soueida R,
Egeland G. Arctic Indigenous Peoples
experience the nutrition transition with
changing dietary patterns and obesity.
Journal of Nutrition 2004; 134:1447-1453.
- Marsh DR, Schroeder D. The positive
deviance approach to improve health
outcomes: experiences and evidence from the
field- Preface. Food and Nutrition
Bulletin 2002; 23(4): 3-6. (and
other papers in this issue)
- Kuhnlein HV, Erasmus B, Creed-Kanashiro
H, Englberger L, Okeke C, Turner N, Allen L,
Bhattacharjee L, et al. (2006) Indigenous
Peoples’ food systems for health: finding
interventions that work. Public Health
Nutrition 2006; 9(8):1013-1019.
Key terms
Indigenous Peoples, food systems, traditional
foods, local foods, Federated States of
Micronesia, Pohnpei, Dalit, India, Perú, Hopi,
Awajún, Inuit, Nunavut, Igbo, Nigeria,
micronutrients, participatory approach, Centre
for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and
Environment (CINE), complementary food,
premastication, biodiversity, nutrition
transition, Jamie Oliver Food Revolution, good
news, Karat banana, banana, narwhal blubber,
seal, benefits and risks, contaminants, Canadian
Arctic, Dene, Yukon First Nations, positive
deviance.
Acknowledgements
The commentary was submitted on 15 April 2010,
accepted subject to revisions and additions,
accepted with these revisions and additions on
23 May, and published on-line on 1 June 2010.
WN commentaries are subject to internal
review by members of the editorial team. This
commentary was reviewed by Barrie Margetts, and
by Geoffrey Cannon, who also edited the
submitted version.
HVK writes: I have worked closely with
many Indigenous Peoples over many years. The
Hopi subject matter was from my doctoral work in
the early 1970s. Information about the food
systems of Arctic Peoples in Canada was derived
with colleagues during the late 1990s; the
information from the Awajún, Igbo, Dalit and
Pohnpei food systems came for work during the
last ten years within the programme addressing
food systems of 12 cultures of Indigenous
Peoples in various regions of the world. This
work is now coming to a conclusion, in
documenting nine interventions using Indigenous
Peoples’ food systems to promote health- to be
released later in 2010.
Many colleagues and friends have been committed
to promoting local food systems of Indigenous
Peoples, and especially through the work of the
Task Force on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems
and Nutrition of the International Union of
Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). We of the IUNS
recognise Dr. Barbara Burlingame of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the UN for her
expert leadership in fostering this approach,
key publications, and promoting several related
policies. Funding for this work over many years
was provided through grants from many public
agencies.
It is without doubt that Chief Bill Erasmus of
the Dene National Office and the Assembly of
First Nations in Canada has been a primary
inspriration for this work. As Chair of the CINE
Governing Board for many years, he has guided
development of the participatory approach with
Indigenous Peoples’ research in many settings,
both in Canada and internationally. As a
professor at McGill University within the School
of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, the privilege
I have enjoyed of developing CINE and its
colleagues has, I know, been invaluable to
development of issues related to promoting and
protecting the food systems of Indigenous
Peoples and their right to their culture and
traditional food.
Special thanks to my research assistant, Dina
Spigelski, for her work in managing the
logistics of communications, budgets and
writings. Peter and Lisa Kuhnlein at kpstudios,
Anacortes, Washington, USA, have provided
invaluable and beautiful photographs, some shown
here, that tell the stories often much better
than the written word. The Pohnpei photograph
was taken by Lois Englberger.
There is no conflict of interest.
Request
Readers are invited please to respond. Please
use the response facility below. Readers may
make use of the material in this commentary,
provided acknowledgement is given to the authors
and the Association, and WN is cited.
Please cite as: Kuhnlein HV. Here is the good
news. [Commentary]
World
Nutrition, June 2010, 1, 2: 60-77.
Obtainable at
www.wphna.org
The opinions expressed in all contributions
to the website of the World Public Health
Nutrition Association (the Association)
including its journal
World
Nutrition, are those of their authors.
They should not be taken to be the view or
policy of the Association, or of any of its
affiliated or associated bodies, unless this is
explicitly stated.
|
June WN commentary:
Here is the good news |
Please respond here
|
|
|
|