Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am Treena Delormier from the Kanien'kéha:ka, the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake. I'm also an academic trainee with the Kahnawake schools diabetes prevention program, pursuing a doctoral degree in public health, health promotion, at Université de Montréal.
I would like to thank you on behalf of the Kahnawake schools diabetes prevention project community advisory board. It's a group of community members who guide the research and intervention aspects of the project, of which I am an active member as well.
I will be sharing my presentation time with my colleague, Dr. Margaret Cargo.
The idea for the diabetes prevention project in Kahnawake was sparked after a presentation that was made to community members concerning the results of a research project that was done in the community. The research results documented high prevalence rates of type-2 diabetes in Kahnawake. Community members who had heard this presentation reacted by asking for something to be done to prevent diabetes.
That reaction was news to the two family physicians—Dr. Ann Macaulay, and the late Dr. Louis T. Montour—who had conducted the prevalence study. They were interested in pursuing research into complications. Needless to say, their efforts changed course on account of the community reaction to the information, and they pursued the idea of diabetes prevention.
This shows the power of sharing locally relevant and meaningful health information with the community. We see that the community was allowed to express their needs on a health issue, and it also sparked community mobilization for health toward diabetes prevention.
About eight years after that, the Kahnawake schools diabetes prevention project officially began when they received funding from a special initiative to address aboriginal diabetes through the national health research development program.
The intervention program focuses on primary school children in the community of Kahnawake. In the schools there is a health curriculum that addresses different aspects of health but focuses on nutrition, physical activity, and diabetes prevention from kindergarten to grade six. There is also a nutrition policy that has been adopted by the whole education system in Kahnawake. It promotes healthy food and bans junk food in the schools. As well as these interventions in the school, KSDPP staff do a number of additional activities with the schools throughout the school year.
The intervention activities also extend into the community. The activities are designed for families, organizations within the organization, and the community at large. The objectives of all these initiatives—community- and school-based—are to promote healthy eating and physical activity, and take a positive attitude and approach toward diabetes prevention.
Margaret is going to talk about some of the results of the evaluation of this intervention program that I just described.