COMMUNITY VISION FOR KAHNAWAKE
All Kahnawakero:non are in excellent health. Diabetes no longer exists. All the children and adults eat healthily at all meals and are physically active daily. The children are actively supported by their parents and family who provide nutritious foods obtainable from family gardens, local food distributors and the natural environment. The schools as well as community organizations, maintain programs and policy that reflect and reinforce healthy eating habits and daily physical activity. There are a variety of physical activities for all people offered at a wide range of recreational facilities in the community. All people accept the responsibility to cooperatively maintain a well community for the future Seven Generations." The vision of the community was developed in 1995 through a participatory community process involving Community Advisory Board (CAB) members, community and academic researchers as well as KSDPP staff.
MISSION STATEMENT
The Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP) designs and implements intervention activities for schools, families and community to prevent type 2 diabetes through the promotion of healthy eating, physical activity and positive attitude for present and future Kahnawakehró:non and for other Indigenous communities. KSDPP conducts community based research on these activities, trains community intervention workers and academic and community researchers and reports all research results to the community
ABOUT KSDPP & KAHNAWAKE
Kahnawake is a Mohawk territory of 8000 people on the south shore of the St Lawrence River 15 kilometers from downtown Montreal. The Mohawk Nation is part of the Iroquois Confederacy whose traditional lands cover an area that includes southern Quebec and Ontario, and northern New York State. Traditional diet consisted of corn, beans and squash supplemented by foods acquired through fishing, hunting and gathering.
The current community was founded in 1680 and established at its present location in 1716. There is strong community control over politics, health and social services and education, combined with higher levels of education and acquisition of professional degrees. In the past thirty years, Kahnawake has made a strong commitment to reinforce Mohawk culture and language within community structures and the Iroquoian philosophy of participation by the people in decision-making continues to be reinforced.
Type 2 diabetes has emerged as a major public health threat to Indigenous populations in the second half of the 20th Century. Rare before the 1940’s Type 2 diabetes has become increasingly common among indigenous peoples in North America, Australia and the South Pacific Islands. In Canada, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among Indigenous people is two to five times greater than in the general population. Rates of complications are often higher including increases in the age-adjusted mortality from Type 2 diabetes, higher rates of end stage kidney disease, eye damage, lower extremity amputations and ischemic heart disease.
After sharing baseline results on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Kahnawake, this information led to many requests of help to prevent future generations from suffering the same burden of disease. Concerns about the perceived increases of obesity in children, combined with the Mohawk tradition to care for future generations, led to the development of a type 2 diabetes prevention program focusing on elementary school children, their families and the entire community. The Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP) began in August 1994 as a three-year NHRDP funded research project. Kahnawake organizations funded KSDPP activities for the 1997-1998 year, and since then, a combination of private foundations, national research and federal government grants, and community donations have funded the program to the present time.
The KSDPP goal is to decrease the onset of Type 2 diabetes among present and future generations. The main objectives are to increase daily physical activity, healthy eating habits, and adequate sleep among Kahnawake children. Other important objectives are to mobilize the community, to foster community empowerment and ownership through participation in all aspects of the program and to build capacity within Kahnawake to ensure sustainability of KSDPP goals, objectives and activities in the future.
The current community was founded in 1680 and established at its present location in 1716. There is strong community control over politics, health and social services and education, combined with higher levels of education and acquisition of professional degrees. In the past thirty years, Kahnawake has made a strong commitment to reinforce Mohawk culture and language within community structures and the Iroquoian philosophy of participation by the people in decision-making continues to be reinforced.
Type 2 diabetes has emerged as a major public health threat to Indigenous populations in the second half of the 20th Century. Rare before the 1940’s Type 2 diabetes has become increasingly common among indigenous peoples in North America, Australia and the South Pacific Islands. In Canada, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among Indigenous people is two to five times greater than in the general population. Rates of complications are often higher including increases in the age-adjusted mortality from Type 2 diabetes, higher rates of end stage kidney disease, eye damage, lower extremity amputations and ischemic heart disease.
After sharing baseline results on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Kahnawake, this information led to many requests of help to prevent future generations from suffering the same burden of disease. Concerns about the perceived increases of obesity in children, combined with the Mohawk tradition to care for future generations, led to the development of a type 2 diabetes prevention program focusing on elementary school children, their families and the entire community. The Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP) began in August 1994 as a three-year NHRDP funded research project. Kahnawake organizations funded KSDPP activities for the 1997-1998 year, and since then, a combination of private foundations, national research and federal government grants, and community donations have funded the program to the present time.
The KSDPP goal is to decrease the onset of Type 2 diabetes among present and future generations. The main objectives are to increase daily physical activity, healthy eating habits, and adequate sleep among Kahnawake children. Other important objectives are to mobilize the community, to foster community empowerment and ownership through participation in all aspects of the program and to build capacity within Kahnawake to ensure sustainability of KSDPP goals, objectives and activities in the future.
KSDPP MOTTO
Healthy eating habits, daily physical activity, & holistic wellness can prevent diabetes.