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Food insecurity a 91Ƶpublic health crisis91Ƶ for B.C.91Ƶs Indigenous kids

Food costs hurting First Nations children at disproportionately high levels here and across Canada

Family physician Dr. Rebekah Eatmon sees parents in tears, frustrated that they can91Ƶt provide enough healthy food for their children.

91ƵI91Ƶve never met an Indigenous parent that doesn91Ƶt want to do the best for their kids,91Ƶ said Eatmon, who works at an Indigenous clinic in Vancouver and in two remote First Nations in B.C.

Rising food prices have put 91Ƶan even bigger burden on families who were struggling before,91Ƶ said the doctor, who is a member of Lax Kw91Ƶalaams First Nation on her father91Ƶs side and Métis on her mother91Ƶs side.

As families across Canada grapple with the increasing cost of groceries, a new study says First Nations, Métis and Inuit children and youth have been disproportionately affected by food insecurity for years 91Ƶ to the point that it91Ƶs an 91Ƶurgent public health crisis.91Ƶ

91ƵThe seriousness of this in Indigenous communities is unlike any other population,91Ƶ said Dr. Anna Banerji, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health.

Banerji and her co-authors looked at dozens of peer-reviewed research studies, as well as reports from First Nations, Métis and Inuit organizations, to determine the extent of food insecurity among Indigenous children in Canada.

91ƵModerate91Ƶ food insecurity is defined by Statistics Canada as a 91Ƶcompromise in quality and/or quantity of food consumed.91Ƶ

91ƵSevere91Ƶ food insecurity is defined as 91Ƶreduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns.91Ƶ

The data show a disproportionately higher rate of moderate to severe food insecurity among Indigenous people living both on and off reserve, the study said, although people living in rural and remote Indigenous communities in the North were at especially high risk, partly because of extremely high food costs.

91Ƶ(In) some of these Indigenous communities, it is to the point where some children don91Ƶt have food to eat all day long,91Ƶ said Banerji.

One study of Inuit children in Nunavik, the northernmost region of Quebec, found that children from food-insecure homes were an average of two centimetres shorter than those from food-secure homes.

91ƵIt91Ƶs incomprehensible that in a country as rich as Canada that we have kids who are stunted and children who are starving,91Ƶ she said.

Moderate to severe food insecurity can lead to malnutrition, which affects the 91Ƶphysical, intellectual, emotional (and) social development of the child,91Ƶ said Dr. Véronique Pelletier, a pediatrician at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal and a co-author of the study.

Malnutrition can be caused not only by a lack of food, but by a lack of high-quality, nutritious food, she said.

For example, many Indigenous families who live in remote areas can91Ƶt get healthy food, including meats, fish, fruits and vegetables, because they are perishable and won91Ƶt last long after being transported long distances, the study said.

Those types of food are also out of reach for many Indigenous people because they can91Ƶt afford to buy them.

That means that many Indigenous children have obesitybut are nutrient-starved, because their diets consist largely of more affordable carbohydrate or fat-heavy food, the study said.

Eatmon, who was not involved in the study, said its findings ring true.

91ƵFamilies know what the best things are for their kids. I91Ƶve never chatted with a family that wants to give their kids Eggos over blueberries,91Ƶ she said.

91ƵBut the reality is the blueberries will spoil in a couple days and the Eggos will stay for months inside their freezer.91Ƶ

The long-lasting effects of colonization are driving factors behind much of the food insecurity Indigenous people face, the study said, because they disrupted sources of healthy food such as traditional hunting, fishing and gathering.

91ƵOver thousands of years, Indigenous populations have adapted to a diet suitable to their environment,91Ƶ the study said. That diet included animals and plants harvested locally.

91ƵSome cultural sharing practices involving feasts and ceremonies were outlawed, resulting in loss of intergenerational knowledge of traditional food procurement and preparation,91Ƶ it said.

In addition, trauma from residential schools and discrimination has fuelled 91Ƶunderemployment and poverty for some individuals and communities91Ƶ 91Ƶ which in turn leads to a lack of ability to afford nutritious food.

Combating food insecurity requires Indigenous-led solutions that are specific to each community91Ƶs needs, said Deyowidron91Ƶt Teri Morrow, a dietitian at Six Nations of the Grand River in southwestern Ontario.

Morrow, who was not involved in the study, pointed to food shortages in grocery stores during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdownas an example of how her First Nation was able to create their own food security.

91ƵWe could still go out and hunt and fish,91Ƶ she said, adding that they also picked wild leeks and fiddleheads.

91ƵWe were shipping them within the community here because people couldn91Ƶt get to the grocery store,91Ƶ said Morrow, who also chairs the Dietitians of Canada Indigenous Nutrition Knowledge Information Network.

Programs that re-establish traditional foods within Indigenous communities are one way of fighting food insecurity, Banerji said. Other examples of success stories include community greenhouses and community freezers.

Banerji and her co-authors are calling for more government support for these types of initiatives, as well as school-based nutrition programs in all Indigenous communities to ensure kids get at least one healthy meal a day.

91ƵIndigenous Peoples must have access to healthy and affordable food and our government is taking the steps necessary to close long-standing socioeconomic gaps,91Ƶ said an emailed response from Zeus Eden, press secretary to Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu, on Thursday.

91ƵWe know that affordability is a top concern for all Canadians, especially those in remote, rural and Indigenous communities who face a higher cost of living,91Ƶ Eden said.

He pointed to recently announced funding of $120 million for 24 regional Indigenous governments 91Ƶto further support traditional hunting, harvesting, and food sharing activities,91Ƶ as well as income assistance of 91Ƶapproximately $300 per month to address urgent financial needs91Ƶ for more than 100,000 people in First Nations communities.

The federal government is also working on developing a national school food policy 91Ƶover the next few years,91Ƶ the statement said.

91ƵWe will continue to work with all levels of government and across departments to address food insecurity, reduce poverty, and promote economic reconciliation,91Ƶ it said.

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