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As a teacher that has worked on reservations throughout the United States, healthy

lifestyles are a challenge. Eating healthy and making good food and snack choices are hard

when compared to shopping choices and income levels on the American Indian Reservations.

During my student teaching, I covered a 5-day course on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. One

of the lessons I covered was The Five Food Groups.

The majority of Native Americans live in poverty, drug and alcohol abuse is high, and

because of poor diets, diabetes and obesity are prevalent comorbidities. According to a study

conducted between 2006 and 2015 by Ann Bullock, Karen Sheff, Kelly Moore, and Spero

Manson (2017) at all Indian Health Service Facilities and federally funded Native Health Care

Facilities “American Indian and Alaskan Native children experience higher prevalence of obesity

and related health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, compared with US children as a whole.”

(p.1502). The authors state in their findings that:

In the 2011 to 2013 American Community Survey, 29.2% of single-race American

Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN) people were living in poverty in 2013, the highest rate of
any racial group. Trauma, stress, and displacement leading to cultural disintegration have
been cited as key contributors to obesity and other chronic illnesses among AI/AN
people. In general populations, childhood trauma and stress have been shown to be
linked to obesity and other chronic illnesses in adulthood. Indeed, many AI/AN people
live in social and physical environments that place them at higher risk than many other
US persons for exposure to traumatic events. Among children in a National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development study, the experience of numerous negative life
events in childhood increased risk for overweight by age 15 years. Another contributing
factor to obesity in children living in lower-income households is food insecurity, which
is the lack of dependable access to sufficient quantities of high-quality foods (Bullok et
al., 2017).

Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan et al. (2017) states “Data from the National Health and

Nutrition Examination Survey found that food-insecure participants were twice as likely as food-

secure participants to be obese and more likely to have diabetes (p. 441). The authors go on to

say “Low-income diabetic adults in food-insecure households also had poorly controlled diabetes
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more often than did their food-secure counterparts (70% vs 46%) and children who are food

insecure are also more likely to be overweight and obese (p. 441). Food insecurity on the

reservation is common place. The reality to that is there are consequences. In a study by

Barbara H. Fiese, Craig Gundersen, Brenda Koester, and LaTesha Washington (2011) the

authors found “When members of a household did not have access at all times to enough food

for an active, healthy life there were consequences to young children.” (p.1). The authors also

state “This is arguably the most serious nutrition-related public health problem facing the U.S.

today with serious developmental consequences of food insecurity including compromised

mental and physical health and poor academic performance for children.” (p.7).

Because healthy eating is so important I know it is important to reinforce it in the

classroom. My students practiced the food groups in the classroom with pictures and food cards.

We covered the effects of alcohol and tobacco use, exercise, and healthy eating. All of the

lessons went great, the kids had fun, and they talked about the food groups when they ate. I used

the mealtimes (breakfast and lunch) to reinforce the lessons. We used the food pyramid posters

in the cafeteria to check our plates every day and made sure we meet the required amounts of

food for each group. My students meet the learning requirements by telling me why alcohol and

smoking were bad for the body, how healthy eating and exercise benefited the body, and why we

should eat healthy every day. They also realized the correlation of exercise and healthy eating to

a healthy lifestyle. A study by school nurses’ Jean Muckian, Julia Snethen, Aaron Buseh (2017)

states “Excess weight among school children has been identified for several decades as a major

health concern in the U. S. (p. 10). They go on to say “Unhealthy dietary patterns, including

limited fruit and vegetable intake, and high intake of energy dense foods with low nutrient value,

has been identified as contributing to excess weight among school aged children (p. 10).
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Dunseith Elementary School does a great job of providing healthy breakfast and lunches as well

as afternoon snacks to all the students.

Through all my years of teaching and starting in Dunseith, I have seen the struggles that

children face on the reservation. I have seen food insecurity with my students. I have seen them

“smuggle” fruit out of the lunch room for the weekend. I have had them say “there is no food in

the home.” I know how hunger and poor nutrition play into learning and behavior. I can only

hope that what we learn here in the classroom helps to prevent obesity and diabetes in the future

for these kids. According to the Indian Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services website (2018), School Health page, “Healthy eating is important for people of all ages,

but it is especially critical for the growth and development of infants and young children.

Healthy eating not only helps children feel good physically and mentally, but it also helps

them to do well in school.”

We all want our students to do well, and we as teachers will do whatever we can to help

students succeed. That includes using our own money to help feed these kids to ensure they are

not hungry. We provide clothes, shoes, and at times we want to steel them away and take them

to the protection of our home, and that’s when we wipe away the tears to do it all again the next

day, all in hopes of these kids making it out and becoming something better than ourselves.
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References

Department of Health and Human Services. (October 2016). Indian Health Services, School

Health [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from

https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/schoolhealth/

Bullock, A., Sheff, K., Moore, K., Manson, S., (2017). Obesity and Overweight in American

Indian and Alaskan Native Children, 2006-2015. AJHP Research 107(9) 1502-1507

Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/eds

Fiese B.H., Gundersen C., Koester B., and Washington, L. (2011). Household Food Insecurity

Serious Concerns for Child Development. Social Policy Report. Society for Research in

Child Development. 25(3) 1-19. Retrieved from

https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERIC

Jernigan, V.B.B., Wetherill, M.S., Hearod, J., Jacob, T., Salvatore, A.L., Cannady,

T.,…Buchwald, D. (2017). Food Insecurity and Chronic Diseases Among American

Indians in Rural Oklahoma:The THRIVE Study. AJHP Research 107(3) 441-446

Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds

Muckian, J., Snethen, J., and Buseh, A. (2017). School Nurses' Experiences and Perceptions of

Healthy Eating School Environments. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 35(2017) 10-15.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2017.02.001 Retrieved from https://ac.els-cdn.com

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