Gerend Stephanie, Caughey Amy, Banuet-Martinez Marina, Vriezen Rachael, Shapiro Karen, Jamieson Rob, Koonoo Theresa, Harper Sherilee L
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 1405 87 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1C9, Canada.
Nunavut Research Institute, 959 Nunavut Dr, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0, Canada.
One Health. 2025 Aug 18;21:101168. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101168. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Clams are an important country food with cultural, environmental, and health significance for Inuit communities in Nunavut. We analyzed the extent, range, and nature of published research on clams in Nunavut, Canada. We used a systematic and transparent scoping review methodology by applying a search string across three databases to identify potentially relevant articles. Two independent reviewers screened the titles and abstracts (phase 1), followed by article full texts (phase 2), using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were extracted from 25 included articles and descriptively analyzed. We also conducted thematic analysis to identify overarching themes, ideas, and gaps. The most frequent topic of research was using clams to understand ecological histories (), followed by the biology of clams (), environmental indicators (), and foodborne illnesses (). We did not identify any articles that investigated the nutritional value of clams, food security, or Indigenous knowledges. Out of all included articles, just over one-quarter described Inuit involvement in the research ( 28 %. Our review highlights and documents how clam research has predominantly focused on natural and environmental sciences in Nunavut. Published research that explores health and social dimensions of clams in Nunavut has so far been limited. Given that clams are not only an ecologically important species but also hold health and cultural significance for communities in Nunavut, further research to capture a diversity of topics - as well as the intersection among topics - could support food-related programming, policies, and decisions intended to foster Inuit wellbeing.
蛤蜊是一种重要的乡村食物，对努纳武特地区因纽特社区具有文化、环境和健康方面的意义。我们分析了加拿大努纳武特地区已发表的关于蛤蜊研究的范围、领域和性质。我们采用系统且透明的范围综述方法，通过在三个数据库中应用搜索词来识别潜在相关文章。两名独立评审员使用纳入和排除标准筛选标题和摘要（第1阶段），随后筛选文章全文（第2阶段）。从25篇纳入文章中提取数据并进行描述性分析。我们还进行了主题分析以识别总体主题、观点和差距。最常见的研究主题是利用蛤蜊了解生态历史（），其次是蛤蜊生物学（）、环境指标（）和食源性疾病（）。我们未找到任何研究蛤蜊营养价值、食品安全或本土知识的文章。在所有纳入文章中，略多于四分之一描述了因纽特人参与研究的情况（28%）。我们的综述突出并记录了蛤蜊研究在努纳武特地区主要集中于自然和环境科学。到目前为止，探索努纳武特地区蛤蜊健康和社会层面的已发表研究有限。鉴于蛤蜊不仅是具有生态重要性的物种，而且对努纳武特地区的社区具有健康和文化意义，进一步开展研究以涵盖多样的主题以及主题之间的交叉点，可为旨在促进因纽特人福祉的与食物相关的规划、政策和决策提供支持。
