Bonnie Lioce

USH F block

October 28, 2014

Research Paper

Obesity and Diabetes in Native Americans Today

Today, there are 542 federally recognized Native American tribes in the U.S. These tribes are constantly fighting to maintain their traditional lifestyles and stay healthy even though the world around them is becoming revolved around processed and junk foods. The prevalence of diabetes and obesity in Native Americans today is due to the affects on the native communities from the world around them.

Obesity is the when someone is overweight and is at risk of heath issues. It is caused by the abundance of high-fat foods and the rapid change from active to sedentary life styles. Obesity in Native Americans is affected by environmental factors such as a high-energy intake and low levels of physical activity. Obesity rates for American Indian kids, adolescents, and adults are higher than the U.S. rates for all other races combined. 

This chart shows the trends in child and adolescent obesity rates in the United States.

This shows that the process of reaching obesity is starting at a younger age than it should. In a study done on the Navajo Indian tribe, 42.7% of kindergarteners were overweight or obese, and 49.7% of third graders were obese. This is due to a lack of resources to provide good data on the incidence of obesity. Risk factors of becoming obese are family medical history, high poverty rates, and cultural disintegration. To prevent the spread of obesity in the Navajo tribe, medical experts have recommended they should educate parents, improve the environment and community facilities, increase funding, and to raise awareness of the obesity epidemic in the tribal communities in the United States. Obesity puts a person at risk of getting diabetes, hypertension, CVD (cardiovascular disease), cancer, low cholesterol, and adverse pregnancy in American Indian women.

Diabetes is when an individual’s blood sugar is too high for their body to maintain anymore. The body needs sugar to run, but too much sugar is bad for your health. The first sign of getting diabetes is called pre-diabetes. This is when someone’s blood sugar is higher than normal but can be brought down through weight loss through healthy eating and increased physical activity. Pre-diabetes causes risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Type 2 diabetes is when the muscle, liver, and fate cells do not use insulin properly. Eventually the body does not make enough insulin, which causes high blood sugar. The signs of Type 2 diabetes are increased thirst, hunger and urination, fatigue, weight loss, and blurred vision. This can lead to eye, heart, kidney, and nerve issues if not managed very carefully.

            The obesity and diabetes rates are measure by BMI (body mass index). This is overall obesity, not centralize, meaning the fat is not located around the abdominal area of a person. The 39% of American Indians that are overweight are in the 85^th percentile or higher in the BMI. This results in the obesity and diabetes rates increasing, which makes CVD the leading cause of death for Native Americans in the U.S. 

This pie chart confirms that the leading cause of death is CVD. 

In Pima Indians, the sign of Type 2 diabetes in Native American women was confirmed by their waist to hip ratio (measure of centralized obesity). In women with a wait to hip ratio greater than 0.96, the rate of diabetes was much higher than women with active and healthy lifestyles. Men in the Pima Indian tribe with a waist to hip ratio greater than 0.98 were positively associated with diabetes. The diabetes epidemic that is taking over the Native American population in the United States is causing people to obtain the health risks that accompany type 2 diabetes: eye, heart, kidney, and nerve issues. Diabetes is becoming the leading cause of lower extremity amputation and end-stage renal disease in American Indians.

The Pima Indian population has the highest rates for diabetes caused from obesity. 

This chart shows the rates, by ethnicity, of people who have died from diabetes. 

The Native American tribes in the United States are coming together to stop the spread of diabetes and obesity in their populations. The Seminole Indian tribe in Florida has started cooking classes, health fairs, and nutritional classes to teach the Seminoles how small adjustments to their diets and lifestyles can make a huge impact on the outcome of their future. Rachel Buxton from the Seminole Tribune said, “Indians are twice as likely to die from diabetes complications as non-Indians”. This is due the American diet being filled with processed and junk foods causing obesity, and the transition of the Native American lifestyle from active to sedentary.

Indians are twice as likely to die from diabetes complications. 

            The Traditional Foods Project was started by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the Native American tribe in an effort to gain back the connection between health and land the Indian culture has. Their goals include reclaiming traditional foods and physical activity, preserve the stories of healthy traditional ways, and engage the community members to follow program progress. Each Native American tribe has taken part is starting projects in their tribes to follow the steps of the Traditional Foods Project. Cora Flute from the Cherokee Nation Traditional Foods Project said that their program will “continue to increase awareness that traditional foods are part of our past that has sustained us and kept us healthy.” She continued to say that “community and family gardens were essentials in access to fresh and healthy foods and physical activity was part of staying healthy.”

           

Works Cited

1.     Story, Mary, Marguerite Evans, Richard R. Fabsitz, Theresa E. Clay,   Bonnie Holy Rock, and Brenda Broussard. "The Epidemic of Obesity in American Indian Communites and the Need for Childhood Obesity-prevention Programs." The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Apr. 1999. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fajcn.nutrition.org%2Fcontent%2F69%2F4%2F747S.full%3Fsid%3Daee1bbaa-bd9c-4716-9e42-64fa1c121f08>

a.     (Primary Source)This source provided me with statistical information about the obesity in the Native American communities through history and into present day and the ways to help and prevent the problem.

2.     "Traditional Foods Project." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::www.cdc.gov:diabetes:projects:ndwp:traditional-foods.htm>.The Traditional Foods Project has been launched in 17 different tribes.

a.     (Primary Source) This source tells me how each tribe individually implemented the project into their communities and what their goals are. It also addresses how the nation, as a whole, is trying to help with the issue.

3.     "Indian Health Service The Federal Health Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives." Diabetes. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::www.ihs.gov:forpatients:healthtopics:Diabetes:>.

a.     This source informed me on what type 2 diabetes is and how it affects each person. This was important because I needed to know what disease I was talking about in the project.

4.     "Obesity Prevention/Strategies in Native Youth." National Indian Health Board. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::www.nihb.org:public_health:obesity_prevention_youth.php>.

a.     This source told me how people in the nation who are not suffering from this epidemic are putting forth the effort to help the Native American communities in the US.

5.     R, Crum. "Addressing Childhood Obesity and Diabetes in Tribal Communities in New Mexico." RWJF. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::www.rwjf.org:en:research-publications:find-rwjf-research:2013:01:addressing-childhood-obesity-and-diabetes-in-tribal-communities-.html>.

a.     This website gave the information about an individual study the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation conducted in New Mexico about eh childhood obesity and diabetes in Tribal Communities in New Mexico.

6.     Buxton, Rachael. "Diabetes No. 1 Health Problem among Native Americans." The Seminole Tribune. The Seminole Tribune, 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::seminoletribune.org:diabetes-no-1-health-problem-among-native-americans:>.

a.     (Primary source)This source provides me with information about obesity and diabetes in the third tribe, The Seminole Indians, I plan on using as an example in my essay.

7.     King, Gail. "Type II Diabetes, the Modern Epidemic of American Indians in the United States." Type II Diabetes, the Modern Epidemic of American Indians in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::anthropology.ua.edu:bindon:ant570:Papers:King:king.htm>

a.     (Picture) This source gave me the general information on the obesity epidemic in Native American Indians and helped me understand how wide spread the problem is today.

8.     Broxmeyer, Dr. Lawrence. "Diabetes Mellitus, Tuberculosis And the Science of Denial by Dr. Lawrence Broxmeyer." Dr Lawrence Broxmeyer. US Library of Congress, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::lawrencebroxmeyer.wordpress.com:2011:01:26:diabetes-mellitus-tuberculosis-and-the-science-of-denial-by-dr-lawrence-broxmeyer:>

9.     "Cadi Topic Ethnicity and Heart Disease Native American Heart Disease." Cadi. CADI Research Foundation, 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::www.cadiresearch.org:topic:ethnicity-and-heart-disease:native-american-heart-disease>

a.     This picture shows the comparison of CVD and diabetes in all races. I am using it to focus on the Native American population.

10. "Native American Disease and Epidemics." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. file://localhost/<http/::en.wikipedia.org:wiki:Native_American_disease_and_epidemics>

a.     This site gave me a picture that visually captures the information I will summarize in my essay.