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Background: Participation in on-the-land programs that encourage traditional cultural activities may improve health and well-being. The Income Security Program (ISP) - a financial incentive-based on-the-land program - for Eeyouch (Cree) hunters and trappers in Eeyou Istchee was created as a result of the 1975 James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement to help mitigate the effects of hydroelectric development on the Cree people of northern Quebec, Canada. Beyond the ISP's financial incentives, little is known about the health measures of those who are eligible to participate in the ISP (i.e. spent ≥120 days on-the-land during the previous year). Therefore, this paper's objective was to assess the health measures of northern Quebec Cree, who were eligible for participation in the ISP.Methods: Using participant data (n = 545) compiled from the Nituuchischaayihtitaau Aschii Multi-Community Environment-and-Health Study, we assessed 13 different health measures in generalized linear models with the independent variable being the eligibility to participate in the ISP.Results: Participants in the present study who were eligible for the ISP had significantly higher levels of vigorous and moderate activity per week, and higher concentrations of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood compared to those ineligible for the ISP (i.e. spent ≤119 days on-the-land during the previous year). Encouragingly, following model adjustment for age and sex, participants eligible for the ISP did not have higher blood concentrations of mercury than those who were not eligible for the ISP.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the participants eligible for participation in the ISP are likely to be healthier than those who are ineligible to participate - and are promising for on-the-land programs for Indigenous peoples beyond a financial incentive - with no apparent higher risk of increasing contaminant body burden through traditional on-the-land-activities (e.g. fish consumption). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Short instruments measuring frequency of specific foods, such as fruit and vegetable (FV), are increasingly used in interventions. The objective of the study was to verify the validity and test-retest reliability of such an instrument among pregnant women.Methods: Pregnant women from the region of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, were recruited through e-mails sent to female students and employees of the local university from October 2014 to April 2015. To assess the validity of the fruit and vegetable questionnaire (FVQ) developed by Godin et al. (Can J Public Health 99: 494-498, 2008), pregnant women were asked in a first mailing to complete the FVQ assessing FV intake over the past 7 days and a 3-day estimated food record. A subsample (n = 33) also gave a fasting blood sample and completed a validated semi-quantitative FFQ administered by a trained registered dietitian during a visit at the research center. FV intakes for all instruments were calculated in terms of servings of FV based on Canada's Food Guide definition of a serving of fruit or vegetable. In order to assess its test-retest reliability, respondents were asked to complete the FVQ 14 days later in a second mailing.Results: Forty-eight pregnant women from all three trimesters completed the questionnaires in the first mailing. FV intake assessed using the FVQ was correlated to FV consumption measured using the food record (r = 0.34, p = 0.0180) and the FFQ (r = 0.61, p = 0.0002). Results were similar when controlling for energy intake and the experience of nausea in the past month. Only β-cryptoxanthin was significantly correlated to FV intake assessed by the FFQ when adjusted for the presence of nausea (r = 0.35, p = 0.0471). Data on the test-retest reliability was available for 44 women and the intra-class coefficient for the FVQ was 0.72 at a mean 28-day interval.Conclusions: The FVQ has acceptable validity and test-retest reliability values, but seems to underestimate FV servings in pregnant women. It represents an interesting alternative for researchers or clinicians interested in estimating quickly FV intake among pregnant women, such as in large trials or during prenatal visits. The FVQ should however be coupled with other self-reported measures, such as a food record, for assessing precise individual FV intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study identifies the characteristics and perceptions related to the individual, the dwelling and the neighbourhood of residence associated with the prevalence of self-reported adverse health impacts and an adaptation index when it is very hot and humid in summer in the most disadvantaged sectors of the nine most populous cities of Québec, Canada, in 2011.Methods: The study uses a cross-sectional design and a stratified representative sample; 3485 people (individual-level) were interviewed in their residence. They lived in 1647 buildings (building-level) in 87 most materially and socially disadvantaged census dissemination areas (DA-level). Multilevel analysis was used to perform 3-level models nested one in the other to examine individual impacts as well as the adaptation index.Results: For the prevalence of impacts, which is 46 %, the logistic model includes 13 individual-level indicators (including air conditioning and the adaptation index) and 1 building-level indicator. For the adaptation index, with values ranging from -3 to +3, the linear model has 10 individual-level indicators, 1 building-level indicator and 2 DA-level indicators. Of all these indicators, 9 were associated to the prevalence of impacts only and 8 to the adaptation index only.Conclusion: This 3-level analysis shows the differential importance of the characteristics of residents, buildings and their surroundings on self-reported adverse health impacts and on adaptation (other than air conditioning) under hot and humid summer conditions. It also identifies indicators specific to impacts or adaptation. People with negative health impacts from heat rely more on adaptation strategies while low physical activity and good dwelling/building insulation lead to lower adaptation. Better neighbourhood walkability favors adaptations other than air conditioning. Thus, adaptation to heat in these neighbourhoods seems reactive rather than preventive. These first multi-level insights pave the way for the development of a theoretical framework of the process from heat exposure to impacts and adaptation for research, surveillance and public health interventions at all relevant levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]