Inuit kids eating less country food

IQALUIT — Inuit kids eat less country food. That’s according to a study done by the Centre For Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment at McGill University.

The study showed that among residents of four Inuvialuit communities in the Northwest Territories, elders eat three times more traditional food than youngsters.

Men and women over the age of 60 consumed an average of one-and-a-half cups worth of country food per day. People aged 20-40 ate just one cup on average, while youths from 15-19 years old consumed just half a cup.

The study also showed that as the consumption of country food fell, sugar intake climbed. Inuvialuit women aged 15-19 ate twice as much sugar as women over 60. The difference among men was even more dramatic: Inuvialuit men aged 15-19 consumed nearly four times as much sugar as men aged 60 or over.