Tuesday, May 20, 2025
5/20/2025
Promoting Healthy Outcomes Through Indigenous Food Systems - Obesity is a complex public health challenge requiring rich, multi-faceted prevention approaches. These approaches are most successful when they influence the social determinants of health, including increasing access to places that provide healthier foods and safe and accessible places for physical activity. Other factors, including culture and history, must be considered for meaningful and sustainable changes. The Promoting Healthy Outcomes Through Indigenous Food Systems project, with funding support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention High Obesity Program, will work in Sioux and Rolette counties, with 42.6% and 40.9% adult obesity, respectively. The target populations will be communities of North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (in Sioux County) and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (in Rolette County). Promoting Healthy Outcomes Through Indigenous Food Systems approaches obesity prevention by addressing the distinctive context in which indigenous people experience health disparities related to the imposition of non-traditional, “colonized” ways of food production, consumption, and inactivity. Nearly 200 years ago, treaties between the United State government and tribal nations resulted in the loss of hunting and fishing opportunities and fertile land for agriculture. Additionally, federal policies restricted access to traditional foodways to an extent that two centuries later American Indians experience chronic disease linked to nutrient-deficient diets and food insecurity. In response to high rates of obesity and disease associated with a colonized diet, indigenous people are creating healthier communities through the reintroduction of traditional foodways and health promotion based on cultural traditions. The success of this project relies on establishing a foundation of community engagement and collaboration by starting with community assessment, coalition building, and community capacity building. As part of the community engagement process, public listening sessions will gather input from the community and help identify project champions. A community coalition will select food access and physical activity projects from a menu of potential strategies based on existing community capital and identified needs. The local Extension office in each county will support the projects with research-based education and outreach in areas including horticulture, nutrition, food production and preservation. This project will increase access to places that provide healthier and culturally-appropriate foods, including schools, congregate meal settings, childcare centers, and retailers. Another outcome of this project is to increase safe and accessible places for physical activity, with consideration for traditional ways of activity beyond colonized concepts of “exercise” and “sports.” The long-term outcome of this project is to create sustainable food and physical activity hubs with a focus on food (and ultimately health) sovereignty. These hubs will provide opportunities for community members to contribute to the food hubs via local food projects like community gardens and seed banks, as well as access the outputs of the food hubs at schools, local retailers, and through community food programs.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).