This article discusses diet-related health problems in Alaska Natives.
"Prior to contact with Europeans, Alaska Natives were primarily healthy and relatively well nourished," the NCI study states. "The change to a diet low in vegetables and fruit and high in fat and sugar has contributed to the increased rate of many diseases formerly rare among Alaska Natives."
One indicator of the continuing change in health status caused by changes in diet and exercise comes in looking at weight. In 1995, about 18 percent of Alaska Native adults were considered obese, defined as having a body mass index--a measurement of body fat based on height and weight--of 30 or greater. Five years later, 30 percent of adult Alaska Natives were found to be obese, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
It's a key observation because obesity has been linked--in Alaska Natives and other races--to breast, uterine, colon, gallbladder and kidney cancers, according to a 2003 state report. The National Cancer Institute adds that obesity is responsible for 25 to 30 percent of colon, postmenopausal breast, endometrial, kidney and esophagus cancers, many of which have high rates among Alaska Natives.
Culture can overcome genetics.