Environment, Resources and Sustainability

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Browsing Environment, Resources and Sustainability by Subject "Aboriginal health"

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    Correlates of Physical Activity among Métis
    (University of Waterloo, 2014-11-27) Ryan, Christopher
    Adult Métis suffer from a high prevalence of obesity and chronic health conditions such as diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Insufficient physical activity, a strong predictor of these conditions, has not been well studied among this population. The purpose of this study is to identify Métis-specific correlates of physical activity, examine how modifiable health behaviours are associated with physical activity, and determine how the correlates differ for leisure-time, active transportation, and occupational physical activity. This study used data from the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) and Métis Supplement to quantitatively analyze demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, health-related, and Aboriginal-specific correlates of physical activity among working-age adult Métis. Data were accessed at the Southwestern Ontario Research Data Centre (SWORDC) at the University of Waterloo. A series of logistic regression models was used for the analyses and each model used bootstrap weights that were specifically designed for the survey by Statistics Canada. Data from the 2006 APS demonstrated that the level of reported leisure-time physical activity was positively associated with being male, living in British Columbia, household income, self-perceived health, and having attended a Métis cultural event. Negative associations with leisure-time physical activity were observed with age, smoking status, and body mass index (BMI). Level of reported active transportation was positively associated with being female, self-perceived health, and having attended a Métis cultural event. Correlates negatively associated with active transportation included age, income, residence in the Territories and Quebec, and BMI. Greater levels of occupational/household physical activity were reported among men and younger adult age groups, and in rural areas. In addition, living in British Columbia, higher ratings of self-perceived health, smoking, and spirituality were positively associated with occupational/household physical activity. Adult Métis with lower levels of education and lower household income were more likely to report higher levels of occupational physical activity. The results of this study demonstrate that leisure-time physical activity, active transportation, and occupational physical activity differ in how they are associated with demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, health-related, and Aboriginal-specific variables. All three types of activity should be considered as important parts of an active lifestyle. This study highlights the significant associations between health-related variables and physical activity participation, and suggests that promoting more physical activity among adult Métis is important as a means to improve their overall health, reduce health disparities, and decrease the prevalence of chronic health conditions among this population. In addition, this study provides evidence that culturally specific factors may be particularly important to consider when designing interventions to promote more physical activity among adult Métis.
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    Urban Aboriginal Health: Using individual and contextual approaches to better understand the health of Aboriginal populations living in Toronto
    (University of Waterloo, 2011-04-29T19:38:33Z) Mehdipanah, Roshanak
    INTRODUCTION: Canada’s Aboriginal population is growing at a faster rate than the rest of Canada. While Aboriginal health has improved in the last few decades, life expectancy of First Nations, Inuit and Métis continues to be lower compared to the rest of the Canadian population. Furthermore, current Aboriginal health research tends to focus on those living onreserves while more than half of the Aboriginal population currently resides in urban areas. Despite the importance of neighbourhood factors for understanding health in urban areas, the importance of neighbourhood characteristic for urban Aboriginal health has yet to be examined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the research was, to determine both individual-level predictors and neighbourhood-level predictors of self-rated health and diagnosis of chronic conditions, amongst Aboriginal populations living in the City of Toronto; and to determine whether and how neighbourhood-level predictors influence individual-level predictors of self-rated health and diagnosis of a chronic conditions in Toronto neighbourhoods with Aboriginal populations living in them. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of two samples from the 2006 Aboriginal people Survey, consisting of 1080 and 500 Aboriginal individuals in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. A series of logistic regressions models were created to identify individual and neighbourhood predictors of “poor” self-rated health and having one or more diagnosed chronic condition(s). RESULTS: A best fitting model was derived from the individual-level variables to include the demographic variables age, gender and Aboriginal status; and the socio-economic variables average household income, education level and employment status. While neighbourhood-level variables had no significant influence in predicting either health outcome, there was some evidence to suggest influence over individual-level predictors. To further examine this relation, neighbourhoods were stratified based on income inequality, average household income and availability of Aboriginal specific services. This analysis yielded some different effects of individual-level variables for different neighbourhood types, suggesting that some effects of neighbourhood characteristics may interact with individual characteristics to influence health. CONCLUSION: While contextual factors have some effect on self-rated health, individual factors serve as stronger predictors of individual health. However, more neighbourhood level studies should be considered in order to better understand the growing urban Aboriginal population and potential ecological effects on health.