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    Diabetes on the rise in First Nations populations

    Diabetes on the rise in First Nations populations

    According to thereport, developed jointly by the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and ICES, theincrease is particularly concerning as there is arising,disproportionatenumber of First Nations children affected by diabetes.

    “Lower monitoring, lower levels of diabetes control and less access to primary care mean First Nations people are more likely to experience complications of their diabetes at an earlier age and sooner after their diagnosis which is why focusing on prevention is key to making to changes to how diabetes affects First Nations people,” says Dr. Green, professor in the Departments Family Medicine and Public Health, and a senior scientist at ICES.

    takes a detailed look at diabetes and its consequences on First Nations people in Ontario from 1990 to 2014. The data presented in the report highlights specific inequalities and supports the development of effective health policies and programs to prevent diabetes in First Nations people.

    The researchers highlight that the three dominant individual risk factors for type 2 diabetes among First Nations people living in First Nations communities are physical inactivity, weight/obesity and smoking. However, efforts to address these risk factors must consider the cumulative effects of ongoing racism, dispossession from land, childhood and intergenerational trauma, changes in diet and an increase in sedentary lifestyles associated with colonization.

    The report found that in 2014/15, 39.3 per cent of First Nations people living in First Nations communities had good control of their blood sugar, compared to 56.5 per cent of other people in Ontario.

    “This report is a step in the right direction to fill information gaps which have led to health policy gaps. This report builds on relationships and formal agreements to understand Indigenous health today, and in order to do that we have to know Indigenous history, government relations with Indigenous people, and the collective that the people have experienced,” says report co-author, Jennifer Walker (Laurentian University), the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and the Indigenous Health Lead at ICES.

    A series of studies, including this one, are being published in the journalsCMAJandCMAJ Open.These studies are the start of a series of papers on diabetes and First Nations health. They are part of a partnership between researchers and COO which engages First Nations patients, families, elders and community members in the project.

    The research was funded by the.

    This article originally appeared inThe Queen's Gazette.

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    Health Services and Policy Research Institute

    Core research: 

    The Health Services and Policy Research Institute (HSPRI) strives to understand and contribute to the rapidly developing fields of health services research, health program evaluation, and health policy analysis.

    Housed within the Faculty of Health Sciences, HSPRI maintains close ties to the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Policy Studies, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Faculty of Law, and many other departments at Queen's.

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    Centre for Studies in Primary Care

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    The Centre for Studies in Primary Care (CSPC) is small in size but ambitious in scope. Based in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's, the CSPC pulls together researchers from various disciplines to conduct research activities in areas relevant to primary health care, medical education, chronic disease, health care delivery, evidence-based medicine, health equity, and patient-centered care.