Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.
CMAJ. 2010 Feb 23;182(3):243-8. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.091297. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Food security (i.e., a condition in which all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life) has been noted to be lower in indigenous communities in Canada. We investigated the prevalence of inadequate food security, or food insecurity, among Inuit households with preschool children.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the health status of 388 randomly selected Inuit children aged three to five years in 16 Nunavut communities during the period from 2007 to 2008. From the survey data, we classified levels of food insecurity specifically among children. We also classified levels of overall food insecurity of the household of each child. We calculated the weighted prevalence of levels of child food insecurity and of household food insecurity.
Nearly 70% of Inuit preschoolers resided in households rated as food insecure (69.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 64.7%-74.6%). Overall, 31.0% of children were moderately food insecure, and 25.1% were severely food insecure, with a weighted prevalence of child food insecurity of 56.1% (95% CI 51.0%-61.3%). Primary care-givers in households in which children were severely food insecure reported experiencing times in the past year when their children skipped meals (75.8%), went hungry (90.4%) or did not eat for a whole day (60.1%). Primary caregivers in households in which children were moderately food insecure reported experiencing times in the past year when they worried food would run out (85.1%), when they fed their children less expensive food (95.1%) and when their children did not eat enough because there was no money for food (64.3%).
We observed a high prevalence of household food insecurity, with a substantial proportion of children with severely food insecure status. Interventions are needed to ensure a healthy start in life for Inuit preschoolers.
食品安全（即所有人在任何时候都能获得足够、安全和营养的食物，以满足其饮食需求和积极健康生活的食物偏好的状况）在加拿大的土著社区中较低。我们调查了有学龄前儿童的因纽特家庭中粮食不安全（即粮食不安全）的发生率。
我们在 2007 年至 2008 年期间对努纳武特 16 个社区的 388 名随机选择的 3 至 5 岁因纽特儿童的健康状况进行了横断面调查。根据调查数据，我们专门对儿童的粮食不安全程度进行了分类。我们还对每个儿童家庭的整体粮食不安全程度进行了分类。我们计算了儿童粮食不安全程度和家庭粮食不安全程度的加权流行率。
近 70%的因纽特学龄前儿童居住在被评为粮食不安全的家庭中（69.6%；95%置信区间[CI]64.7%-74.6%）。总体而言，31.0%的儿童中度粮食不安全，25.1%的儿童严重粮食不安全，儿童粮食不安全的加权流行率为 56.1%（95%CI51.0%-61.3%）。在儿童严重粮食不安全的家庭中，主要照顾者报告说，在过去的一年中，他们的孩子有时会不吃饭（75.8%）、挨饿（90.4%）或一整天不吃饭（60.1%）。在儿童中度粮食不安全的家庭中，主要照顾者报告说，在过去的一年中，他们有时会担心食物会用完（85.1%）、给孩子吃更便宜的食物（95.1%）以及由于没有钱买食物，孩子吃不饱（64.3%）。
我们观察到家庭粮食不安全的发生率很高，有相当一部分儿童处于严重粮食不安全状态。需要采取干预措施，确保因纽特学龄前儿童有一个健康的开端。
