All in-person data collection for FEHNCY is currently on hold to comply with the physical and social distancing recommendations issued by the provincial and federal governments. The FEHNCY team will be conducting remote only data collection and will continue modifying the project methods, timeline, and protocols in collaboration with First Nation partners to adapt to the current circumstances. The mobile clinic component has been postponed until further notice.

Why is this study important?

Results from the First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study (FNFNES), a comprehensive, 10-year research study of First Nations across Canada, showed extremely high rates of food insecurity, obesity, diabetes, and poor nutrition in adults.

 

Until now, there have been no studies focused on assessing food environments and food security, nutrition, housing conditions, and indoor air quality, environmental contaminants exposure, and health indicators for First Nation children and youth.

One third of the First Nations population consists of children of 14 years of age or younger and there remain persistent health inequalities between these children and those in the rest of the country.

 

FEHNCY aims to address these disparities and advocate for Indigenous health policies for children and youth. This study works in partnership with First Nations to build intergenerational capacities, to address environmental and nutrition health issues, and to support health and wellbeing in communities.

How will my family benefit from participating?

PARTICIPANT PORTFOLIO

This will provide a summary of the participating child’s clinical results with clear indications of normal or abnormal values, and if follow-up by a health professional is required.

NUTRITION REPORT

This will provide a summary of the participating child’s dietary intake with comparison to nutrition recommendations.

HOUSING AND AIR QUALITY REPORT

This will provide results of the household inspection and a comparison to recommended levels for air quality measurements. The report will also include suggestions on how to reduce contaminants levels or improve indoor air quality in the house.

Community Participation

FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES THAT DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY:

FEHNCY promotes the improvement of health and wellbeing for all First Nations families, not only those who have been randomly selected to participate. The study is designed so that results are representative of First Nations at the regional and national levels. This means that even if your First Nation is not selected, regional results should reflect many of the realities in First Nations of similar size and location to those selected. At the household and individual level, this means that even if your household or child is not selected, community-specific results should represent the situation in your community overall.

First Nations that did not participate in the study can consult the regional report to see how results can be applicable to their own community.

These results will be used to advocate for additional policy and programming to address the needs identified in the survey, so your household and community can benefit even if you are not selected to participate. Findings can be used in the future to see if things have changed over time, or to determine how First Nations on reserve compare to those in other regions and to the broader Canadian general population.