Characterization of individuals residing in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who consume native grown and locally available foods

Iqbal, Sahar Jameel (2003) Characterization of individuals residing in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who consume native grown and locally available foods. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Indigenous foods are cheap and highly nutritious. The present study is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Newfoundland and Labrador nutrition (NNL) survey, 1996. The NNL survey was a province wide cross-sectional study that collected data on the dietary habits of residents of the province. The specific objectives of the present study were to see how prevalent was the consumption of indigenous foods by the population of the province and to compare consumers with nonconsumers. A multistage stratified cluster design was used to sample males and females, 18-74 years inclusive. Excluded were institutionalized individuals, people living on reserves, and pregnant and lactating women. The statistical program, SPSS, was used to analyze the data, collected on 1927 randomly selected adults. Analysis of data revealed that 93% and 79.5% of respondents respectively, claimed to have consumed wild berries and game meat during the previous year. Chi squared analysis showed a significant association of game meat consumption with sex (p<0.001), age (p<0.001), area of residence (p<0.001) and education level (p<0.001). Game meat was most often consumed by males, aged 55-64 years, less educated, rural residents in the low income adequacy group (p<0.001). Chi squared analysis of data on berry consumers showed a significant association with sex (p=0.006) but not with the other factors tested. In addition to the frequency of consumption of indigenous foods and their amounts were also calculated. Median serving size of moose meat was found to be 137g and median serving size of blueberries was 18g. Of those who consume large game meat, 41% said they consumed at least 2 portions per month. Of those who consume berries, 25 % said they consumed more than 4 servings of berries per month. Analysis of health behaviour indicators showed that non-smokers were more likely to be berry consumers (p<0.001) whereas there was no difference between physical activity or intake of vitamin/mineral supplement between consumers and nonconsumers. Indigenous foods appear to be consumed by and thus accessible to a variety of people. Consequently their consumption can be practically encouraged to address food insecurity and health issues in Newfoundland and Labrador. Specific characteristics of consumers of local berries and wild game can be used to aid in the development of strategies to promote the intake of these foods.

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