Kahnawake is a Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) community of 7200 people (in year 2002) located 15 kilometres south west of Montreal, Canada. The Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP) began in 1994 with NHRDP funding and continues today with CIHR funding for the KSDPP Center for Research & Training.

For KSDPP the long-term goal is to decrease the incidence of Type 2 diabetes through the short-term goals of increasing physical activity and healthy eating. Additional objectives are to incorporate Mohawk traditions and culture, promote community capacity building and program ownership. KSDPP is a participatory research project where the community and researchers are in partnership, each with their own expertise. The community is represented through a Community Advisory Board, and the partnership guidelines are outlined in the KSDPP Code of Research Ethics.

Evaluation of KSDPP includes changes in the elementary school children in Grades 1-6 for knowledge, perceived parental support, anthropometric measurements, eating patterns, physical activity, TV watching and fitness. Evaluation has also followed process changes in the schools and community, researched the evolution of the project itself and the community ownership of the project. Another project (CDA funded) has developed and validated a CD-ROM to evaluate physical activity interactive recall for children in grades 4-6. In addition a youth empowerment project (CDA funded) for those aged 14-18 years seeks to better understand youth perceptions of lifestyle and diabetes and to encourage youth to become role models for diabetes prevention.

The goals for the KSDPP Center for Research & Training funded by CIHR for 2001-2006 are to (a) complete 10 year evaluation of the KSDPP project in Kahnawake, (b) evaluate how the KSDPP project is disseminated and adapted throughout a network of Aboriginal communities in Canada, (c) offer academic training to masters, PhD and postdoctoral students interested in diabetes prevention, and (d) offer training to Aboriginal community researchers.