Post by Okwes on Nov 13, 2006 12:44:43 GMT -5
BREAK WITH TRADITION: Food aid changes diets
Study looks at effect of government commodities on Indians
www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/news/1060582\
2.html
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/news/106058\
22.html>
By TINA REED
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/rjstaff.html>
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/photos/indi\
an.jpg>
UNLV researchers Michelle Chino, left, and Carolee Dodge Francis sort
through research materials Wednesday. They are studying the impact of
government-issued foods on the diets and health of American Indians.
Photo by John Gurzinski
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/webextras/gallery/gurzinski/gurzinski.html\
> .
WASHINGTON -- Growing up on the Menominee Indian Reservation in
Wisconsin, Carolee Dodge Francis ate government-issued peanut butter and
processed cheese that filled her grandmother's shelves.
They were far from the family's traditional diet of garden vegetables,
venison and bear meat, but they were free and allowed grocery dollars to
stretch a bit further.
Advertisement
<http://ads.stephensmedia.com/click.ng/size=250x250&channel=news>
Close to 100,000 American Indians accepted food assistance in the form
of government commodities, like canned meats, canned fruit and
vegetables, lima beans and macaroni and cheese. About 70 million pounds
of food were given out in fiscal 2005.
But high-calorie, nontraditional foods among those that are distributed
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have transformed the diets of
American Indians, possibly in unhealthy ways.
Dodge Francis today is a researcher at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas who is preparing a study on the issue.
"I'm looking at how the relationship and usage of USDA commodity foods
has shaped Native Americans' attitudes of what we eat and buy in a
contemporary society," said Dodge Francis, the executive director of the
American Indian Education and Research Center of UNLV's School of Public
Health.
"What's the link between us getting used to these kinds of foods and
families using commodity foods to survive?"
Dodge Francis and UNLV colleague Michelle Chino are interested in a
possible link between the foods and skyrocketing rates of obesity and
Type 2 diabetes in American Indian communities.
Last week, their work gained federal support in the form of promises by
the Department of Agriculture to collaborate, and a $35,000 grant.
The Nevada project is one of 12 studies getting $1.8 million for
research into food assistance and nutrition programs.
The UNLV and USDA researchers plan to convene focus groups at tribal
colleges, and conduct surveys at an upcoming American Indian Higher
Education Consortium national conference.
They will explore the dietary habits of American Indian families and
their use of government-provided commodities.
The distribution programs are an alternative to food stamps and give
certain amounts of food per month to low-income families based on
household size.
"There are some real cultural barriers when it comes to food," said
Chino, director of Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research
at UNLV. "I'm from the Southwest, and our diet was traditionally made up
of squash, beans, corn; agricultural products. Many commodity foods
contain canned meats, cheese, milk and peanut butter. How do you figure
out how to fix these foods in traditional ways?"
According to the National Diabetes Education Program, American Indians
and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to have diabetes than
non-Hispanic whites.
Fifteen percent of adults who receive care from the Indian Health
Service have diabetes.
Bill Emmerling, a family nurse practitioner at the Moapa River Indian
Reservation north of Las Vegas, said he's seen trends of declining
health plaguing residents.
Emmerling has long believed there is a connection between the health of
the American Indians and food distributed by government or charities to
low-income families.
"This is a population of 400 individuals, and we have 100 diabetics,"
Emmerling said of the Moapa Paiute Band. "This week, I just diagnosed
two more young people with diabetes. The obesity rate is outrageous. If
diabetes is going to be well-controlled and the food ingested is
commodity food, it needs to be supported by their diet."
Study looks at effect of government commodities on Indians
www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/news/1060582\
2.html
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/news/106058\
22.html>
By TINA REED
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/rjstaff.html>
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-04-Sat-2006/photos/indi\
an.jpg>
UNLV researchers Michelle Chino, left, and Carolee Dodge Francis sort
through research materials Wednesday. They are studying the impact of
government-issued foods on the diets and health of American Indians.
Photo by John Gurzinski
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/webextras/gallery/gurzinski/gurzinski.html\
> .
WASHINGTON -- Growing up on the Menominee Indian Reservation in
Wisconsin, Carolee Dodge Francis ate government-issued peanut butter and
processed cheese that filled her grandmother's shelves.
They were far from the family's traditional diet of garden vegetables,
venison and bear meat, but they were free and allowed grocery dollars to
stretch a bit further.
Advertisement
<http://ads.stephensmedia.com/click.ng/size=250x250&channel=news>
Close to 100,000 American Indians accepted food assistance in the form
of government commodities, like canned meats, canned fruit and
vegetables, lima beans and macaroni and cheese. About 70 million pounds
of food were given out in fiscal 2005.
But high-calorie, nontraditional foods among those that are distributed
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have transformed the diets of
American Indians, possibly in unhealthy ways.
Dodge Francis today is a researcher at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas who is preparing a study on the issue.
"I'm looking at how the relationship and usage of USDA commodity foods
has shaped Native Americans' attitudes of what we eat and buy in a
contemporary society," said Dodge Francis, the executive director of the
American Indian Education and Research Center of UNLV's School of Public
Health.
"What's the link between us getting used to these kinds of foods and
families using commodity foods to survive?"
Dodge Francis and UNLV colleague Michelle Chino are interested in a
possible link between the foods and skyrocketing rates of obesity and
Type 2 diabetes in American Indian communities.
Last week, their work gained federal support in the form of promises by
the Department of Agriculture to collaborate, and a $35,000 grant.
The Nevada project is one of 12 studies getting $1.8 million for
research into food assistance and nutrition programs.
The UNLV and USDA researchers plan to convene focus groups at tribal
colleges, and conduct surveys at an upcoming American Indian Higher
Education Consortium national conference.
They will explore the dietary habits of American Indian families and
their use of government-provided commodities.
The distribution programs are an alternative to food stamps and give
certain amounts of food per month to low-income families based on
household size.
"There are some real cultural barriers when it comes to food," said
Chino, director of Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research
at UNLV. "I'm from the Southwest, and our diet was traditionally made up
of squash, beans, corn; agricultural products. Many commodity foods
contain canned meats, cheese, milk and peanut butter. How do you figure
out how to fix these foods in traditional ways?"
According to the National Diabetes Education Program, American Indians
and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to have diabetes than
non-Hispanic whites.
Fifteen percent of adults who receive care from the Indian Health
Service have diabetes.
Bill Emmerling, a family nurse practitioner at the Moapa River Indian
Reservation north of Las Vegas, said he's seen trends of declining
health plaguing residents.
Emmerling has long believed there is a connection between the health of
the American Indians and food distributed by government or charities to
low-income families.
"This is a population of 400 individuals, and we have 100 diabetics,"
Emmerling said of the Moapa Paiute Band. "This week, I just diagnosed
two more young people with diabetes. The obesity rate is outrageous. If
diabetes is going to be well-controlled and the food ingested is
commodity food, it needs to be supported by their diet."