151. Diet and lifestyle of the Sami of southern Lapland in the 1930s-1950s and today
- Author
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Ingegerd Johansson, Lars Dahlgren, Per Sjölander, Magritt Brustad, Bethany Van Guelpen, and Lena Maria Nilsson
- Subjects
Male ,VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Medisinsk/odontologisk etikk, atferdsfag, historie: 805 ,Health (social science) ,VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Medical/dental ethics, behavioural sciences, history: 805 ,Epidemiology ,Population ,Ethnic group ,traditional lifestyle ,History, 21st Century ,Indigenous ,Russia ,Sami people, traditional food, traditional lifestyle, indigenous, the VIP cohort ,Interviews as Topic ,03 medical and health sciences ,Fatty fish ,0302 clinical medicine ,Ethnicity ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Social determinants of health ,the VIP cohort ,education ,Socioeconomics ,indigenous ,Life Style ,Finland ,Sweden ,education.field_of_study ,traditional food ,030505 public health ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,Arctic Regions ,Norway ,Sami people ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology ,General Medicine ,Circumpolar star ,History, 20th Century ,Diet ,Näringslära ,Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi ,Geography ,Cohort ,Female ,0305 other medical science - Abstract
Objectives. To describe the lifestyle of the Sami of southern Lapland 50 to 70 years ago in relation to the present-day Sami and non-Sami populations and, thereby, to provide a basis for future studies of culturally related determinants of health and illness. Study design. A qualitative analysis, and a quantitative comparison of Sami and non-Sami groups. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 elderly Sami concerning their parents’ lifestyle and diet 50 to 70 years ago. Questionnaire data from 81 reindeer-herding Sami, 226 non-reindeer-herding Sami and 1,842 sex-, age- and geographically matched non-Sami from the population-based Vasterbotten Intervention Project were analysed by non-parametric tests and partial least squares methodology. Results. Surprisingly, fatty fish may have been more important than reindeer meat for the Sami of southern Lapland in the 1930s to 1950s, and it is still consumed more frequently by reindeer-herding Sami than nonreindeer- herding Sami and non-Sami. Other dietary characteristics of the historical Sami and present-day reindeer-herding Sami were higher intakes of fat, blood and boiled coffee, and lower intakes of bread, fibre and cultivated vegetables, compared with present-day non-Sami. Physical activity was also a part of the daily life of the Sami to a greater extent in the 1930s to 1950s than today. Sami men often worked far from home, while the women were responsible for fishing, farming, gardening (which was introduced in the 1930–1950 period), as well as housework and childcare. Conclusions. For studies investigating characteristic lifestyle elements of specific ethnic groups, the elements of greatest acknowledged cultural importance today (in this case reindeer meat) may not be of the most objective importance traditionally. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2011; 70(3):301-318) Keywords: Sami people, traditional food, traditional lifestyle, indigenous, the VIP cohort