Dietary Choices in Aklavik

The Aklavik Health Committee partnered with the Arctic Health Research Network-Northwest Territories (predecessor of the ICHR) and the local Moose Kerr School in May of 2006 to launch a Youth & Elders Dietary Choices Pilot Project, which was designed to engage Aklavik youth in examining dietary choices and diet-disease relationships at the community-level.

The first phase of the pilot project ran from May-July 2007 and was based out of Moose Kerr School with four senior students taking the lead in the project’s development. As a community-driven participatory project, research facilitators worked in collaboration with the Aklavik Health Committee, Moose Kerr School, the Hamlet, local band office and other interested stakeholders to design the project and determine desired outcomes.

Phase one of the project took the form of an elective health class for senior students from Moose Kerr School. Completion of dietary recalls along with daily classroom discussions provided the students with a better understanding of their own eating habits and the opportunity to think critically about the implications and realities of dietary choices in their community. These activities motivated the students to create a video to capture other community members’ perceptions about dietary choices and health. Two students from the class continued filming over the summer of 2007 and produced a 60-minute video documenting food and nutrition trends and challenges in Aklavik.

Aklavik Dietary Choices ProjectNext »

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