Great.
I've been following this discussion with a lot of interest. I think it's interesting that by the time these children hit grade one, they're already overweight. One of you mentioned that. Somebody mentioned that breastfeeding may provide protection.
Then, I see, we get into discussion here. My colleague Dave Batters brought up the question of what kind of education is taking place. We heard responses about dietitians and the lack of access to professionals to really explain and make sure that people are getting adequate nutrition.
I'm looking back at some of the information provided by our researchers here, that traditionally, with hunting and gathering, there used to be a lot of access to berries and seaweed in northern communities, and many of the wildlife that were consumed were rich in nutrients, and so on. Perhaps, of course, as traditional foods are less a part of many aboriginal diets, we're missing a lot of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, that should be important there.
With such a large group around this table, representing researchers and people with a lot of experience about this, has anybody done a simple study with basic vitamins and mineral supplements for children to find out whether this might make a big difference in their handling of blood sugars? For example, we know that chromium is essential for blood sugar metabolism. Can anybody tell me, has such a simple study been done, just with basic vitamins and minerals, for our young people?
I would just make this comment: we know that physiological efficiency has a big role in physical activity. When the body is physiologically functioning well, you simply feel like doing more.