Report shows high rates of obesity among American Indians across US
By Mallory Black, Native Health News
Alliance
SAN DIEGO – While the high rates of
obesity among American Indians propels
forward the population’s chronic disease
rates, a recent report provides a better
state-by-state glimpse of how obesity is
impacting Indian Country.
According to data released by the
Centers for Disease and Control and
Prevention, and analyzed in the annual
State of Obesity report by the Trust for
America’s Health and the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, in Arizona, North
Carolina and New Mexico at least 75
percent of American Indian adults are
overweight or obese. Texas had the lowest
obesity rate for Natives at 51 percent.
“This is the first time that we have had
some real data that looked at the Native
American population for each state,” said
Rich Hamburg, deputy director of Trust
for America’s Health, who added that,
of the 25 states with reportable data for
American Indians, all reported obesity
rates above 50 percent.
Dr. Sheila Fleischhacker, senior pub-
lic health and science policy advisor at the
National Institutes of Health Division of
Nutrition Research Coordination, states
“where Native people live also plays a
crucial role in obesity rates.”
Another report on food systems in
Tribal communities, Feeding Ourselves,
published earlier this year details the
stark reality for many Natives to access
healthy and affordable foods in their
own community.
According to the U.S. Census, about
78 percent of American Indians and
Alaska Natives do not live on reservations
and instead live in urban areas.
“There are also more than 500 Tribes
and Native villages in the U.S. and each
has their own unique Tribal structure,
assets and challenges relating to the pre-
vention and treatment of nutrition-related
chronic diseases,” Fleischhacker said.
The most recent national data avail-
able show that more than half of Ameri-
can Indian and Alaska Native adults are
obese, compared to roughly one-third of
all U.S. adults.
For childhood obesity, the report does
show the rates beginning to level off for a
few age groups among Whites, but rates
for several age groups of Blacks, Latinos,
and Native children remain high and may
have yet to peak. According to the report:
•
•
One in four American Indians 2-5
years old is obese.
Nearly a third of Native children 6-11
years old and a third of those age
12-19 are obese.
But there is some good news to report
for children’s obesity overall, Hamburg
said. “We are beginning to see some suc-
cesses, particularly among kids in areas
where we know there has been a preven-
tion effort through programs and policy,”
he said.
For both American Indian adults
and children, food access and physical
inactivity often are cited as some of the
greatest challenges in overcoming obesity
in Indian Country. Policies to increase the
tax on sugary foods and drinks, such as in
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Siletz News
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the Navajo Nation, and programs aimed
at increasing children’s health and fitness
continue to be implemented in Tribal
communities to combat the rising rates.
One organization leading the charge
to improve American Indian nutrition and
physical activity is the Native-led Notah
Begay III Foundation, which also focuses
on reducing type 2 diabetes rates.
Olivia Roanhorse (Navajo) directs one
of NB3’s programs called NativeStrong,
which provides grants for grassroots pro-
grams targeting children’s nutrition educa-
tion, access to healthier foods, increased
physical activity, and culturally-based youth
and community leadership development.
More than 40 Native communities
have carried out community-led programs
with the support of NB3 but despite their
efforts, one of the biggest struggles to
overcoming obesity among American
Indians continues to be the lack of funding
for prevention, Roanhorse said.
“That is a challenge because (the
Indian Health Service) just can’t do all
the things our people need, so we know
we can’t rely on the Indian Health Service
for everything,” Roanhorse said.
Studies have shown that diet and
nutrition also have undergone a trans-
formation in many Native communities
during the last 50 years. What was once a
diet of Native traditional foods has shifted
into one much higher in fat, sugar and
sodium, and lower in fruits, vegetables,
lean proteins and whole grains.
Freda Carpitcher (Seminole) is the
health promotion and disease prevention
coordinator for the Indian Health Service’s
Oklahoma Area. In the State of Obesity
report, Oklahoma is listed as having the
fourth-highest rate of obesity for Ameri-
can Indian adults, exceeding 76 percent.
Carpitcher and her team work to
educate hundreds of American Indian
families across Oklahoma, Kansas and
parts of Texas about healthier lifestyles,
including the return to indigenous foods.
“If you look back 60 to 70 years, our
disease rates were much lower than they
are now,” she said. “My hope is that we,
as all Natives, will return to indigenous
foods, the ones that our grandparents grew
themselves and consumed. If we return to
indigenous foods, it’s going to contribute
to lowering disease rates.”
Although the report helps shed
more light on obesity among American
Indians, it’s still difficult to say which
states are seeing any signs of progress for
the Native population.
“It’s been a different society for the
last couple of decades and I think that’s
the same for Native Americans,” Hamburg
said. “We’re driving less and fewer people
are living in areas where you could walk
to school or work. Over time, we just need
the kids and the population to be more
active and eat healthier. That’s still the
bottom line.”
But until those healthy indigenous
foods are more accessible to everyone and
communities are built to encourage people
to walk, it’s an uphill battle for families
trying to eat healthy and be active.
Mallory Black is a San Diego-based
freelance writer and an enrolled member of
the Navajo Nation. She reports on Ameri-
January 2016
Overweight and obesity rates for adults by race/ethnicity
can Indian health and culture for the Native
Health News Alliance and Native Peoples
Magazine. She is also the communications
specialist for the division of student affairs
at San Diego State University.
©Native Health News Alliance. Con-
tent supported by Voices for Healthy Kids ®
Voices for Healthy Kids ® is a joint
initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation (RWJF) and the American
Heart Association (AHA). The collabora-
tion is working with communities across
the nation to ensure that children have
access to healthy food and physical activity
where they live, learn and play.
For more information, visit voices-
forhealthykids.org.
Three tips for keeping kids
healthy in Indian Country
from the Indian Health
Service – Oklahoma Area
•
Eat whole fruits, not prepack-
aged or juices: Whereas eating
whole fruits has been linked
to lowering the risk of type
2 diabetes, drinking sugary
fruit juices is associated with
a higher risk of the disease.
Kids seem to love those mini-
Clementines, so pack a few to
snack on when you take the
kids out and about.
•
Try Native traditional and fancy
dance: Dances like traditional
and fancy dance are some of the
best forms of aerobic exercise.
To build up your child’s stamina
for traditional dance, have them
try jumping rope for 10 minutes
a day and they’ll be a champion
dancer in no time.
•
Grow something: Have the kids
plant something in the garden,
whether it’s a fruit or vegetable.
Make sure they carry water to
the plant twice a day in the
morning and at night. Depend-
ing on how far your garden is,
kids will have to make trips
back and forth, giving them
the activity they need every day.
Siletz Tribal
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