KAHNAWAKE SCHOOLS DIABETES PREVENTION PROGRAM
KSDPP & KAHNAWA:KE
Kahnawà:ke is a Mohawk territory of 8,000 people on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, 15 kilometers from downtown Montreal. The Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) Nation is part of the Haudenosaunee (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 fishing, hunting and gathering.
The 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 professional degrees. Kahnawà:ke has made a strong commitment to reinforce Kanien'kehaka culture and language within community structures, and follows the Haudenosaunee philosophy of participation by the people in decision-making. Type 2 diabetes emerged as a major public health threat to Indigenous populations in the second half of the 20th century. Rare before the 1940s, 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.
Sharing baseline results on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Kahnawà:ke led to many requests to help prevent future generations from suffering the same burden of disease. Concerns about the perceived increase of obesity in children, combined with the Kanien'kehaka 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 Kahnawà:ke Schools Diabetes Prevention Program (KSDPP) began in August 1994 as a 3-year National Health Research and Development Program (NHRDP)-funded research project. Kahnawà:ke 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 Kahnawà:ke children. Other important objectives are to mobilize the community, foster community empowerment and ownership through participation in all aspects of the program, and build capacity within Kahnawà:ke to ensure the future sustainability of KSDPP goals, objectives and activities. |