A decade of research in Inuit children, youth, and maternal health in Canada: areas of concentrations and scarcities

Abstract

Inuit Canadians are on average about 20 years younger and have a 10-year lower life expectancy than other Canadians. While there have been improvements in Inuit health status over time, significant health disparities still remain. This paper will review the peer-reviewed literature related to Inuit child, youth, and maternal health between 2000 and 2010, investigate which thematic areas were examined, and determine what proportion of the research is related to each group. Establishing areas of research concentrations and scarcities may help direct future research where it is needed. We followed a systematic literature review and employed peer-reviewed research literature on child, youth, and maternal health which were selected from 3 sources, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Circumpolar Health Bibliographic Database. The resulting references were read, and summarized according to population group and thematic area. The thematic areas that emerged by frequency were: infectious disease; environment/environmental exposures; nutrition; birth outcomes; tobacco; chronic disease; health care; policy, human resources; interventions/programming; social determinants of health; mental health and wellbeing; genetics; injury; and dental health. The 72 papers that met the inclusion criteria were not mutually exclusive with respect to group studied. Fifty-nine papers (82%) concerned child health, 24 papers (33%) youth health, and 58 papers (81%) maternal health. The review documented high incidences of illness and significant public health problems; however, in the context of these issues, opportunities to develop research that could directly enhance health outcomes are explored.

Health of Indigenous Circumpolar Populations

“…Although much of the Arctic is politically located within some of the world's most developed countries, most circumpolar regions show pronounced and, for some, worsening health disparities compared with the national populations, as well as a strong northern versus southern health gradient (Krümmel 2009, Chatwood et al 2012, Young 2012. For example, there is a 10-year gap in life expectancy between Canadian Inuit and the general Canadian population (Sheppard & Hetherington 2012).…”

Prenatal exposure to an environmentally relevant mixture of Canadian Arctic contaminants decreases male reproductive function in an aging rat model

“…To support this hypothesis, prenatal exposure to the Arctic OC mixture has been reported to depress immune responses in swine 32 . Similarly, prenatal exposure to OC in Inuit populations is correlated with a high level of infection and respiratory diseases 33 . High levels of chronic respiratory disease, cancers and infectious diseases are major contributors to the high mortality rate in Inuit adults 20 .…”

“…32 Similarly, prenatal exposure to OC in Inuit populations is correlated with a high level of infection and respiratory diseases. 33 High levels of chronic respiratory disease, cancers and infectious diseases are major contributors to the high mortality rate in Inuit adults. 20 As observed in our animal model, a slow decrease of body weight and overall decline of health seem to be related to the prenatal exposure to the Arctic OC because none of the Controls animals demonstrated observable health issues.…”

Drivers and health implications of the dietary transition among Inuit in the Canadian Arctic: a scoping review

“…Several surveys conducted with Inuit reported that the majority of respondents preferred a mixture of CF and MF and expressed a desire to eat more CF than they currently consume (54,61,87) . CF were viewed as healthier than MF, and some Inuit reported feeling 'lazy', 'tired' and 'unfulfilled' when they do not eat CF (7,62,88) . MF were often perceived as being of inferior quality, being described as 'sugary', 'junk' or 'garbage' (63) .…”