1.) Quantify what specific foods are consumed within regions through the seasons. This includes identifying parts of plants and animals consumed and preparation methods. This should be undertaken in collaboration with the local people in regions where there is interest. Regions where no data have been collected would be likely locations.

2.) Compile and distribute nutrient composition information on the most important nutrients in the most consumed foods. Based on their importance to health and the lack of existing information, nutrients to investigate include vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids, vitamin A, beta-carotene, selenium, dietary fiber, calcium, cholesterol, iron, fat, energy, protein, water and carbohydrate. Based on existing information (Nobmann, 1989, Risica, 1997), common foods to investigate include different species of smoked and dried salmon, caribou, moose, deer, seal, fat and organs of animals, sheefish, goose, whitefish, reindeer, herring eggs and flesh, blackfish, tomcod, pike, eiderduck, smelt, muskrat, trout, oogruk, devil fish, beluga, flounder, grayling, reindeer, murre, bowhead whale and walrus.

3.) Develop and distribute information on the benefits and clarify any documented risks of consuming specific subsistence foods. Foods of particular interest include salmon, fish other than salmon, sea mammals, livers and kidneys of sea mammals, moose, caribou, and deer, livers and kidneys of land mammals, marine invertebrates and berries. A multi media series could be developed "Eating Healthy in Alaska" that describes the benefits of subsistence foods and any documented risks.

4.) Investigations are needed on the relationships of food and health. This is challenging, as health is difficult to measure. Disease more often is measured. This also is difficult when there are few cases of the disease in a relatively small population.

5.) Basic research is needed on the interactions of nutrients and contaminants and subsequent effects on health. An alternate approach is to measure existing health status first and then compare results with intakes of nutrients and contaminants.

6.) Identify and apply the most effective methods of communicating with those that may be interested or need to know about the nutritional benefits and possible risks of eating subsistence foods.

Objective 2 Recommendations on presenting nutritional information in the Contaminants & Subsistence Foods Database will be presented.

The Institute for Social and Economic Research is proposing to develop an easily accessible source for information concerning subsistence resources in Alaska (a computerized database) which includes the positive health effects of subsistence foods as well as information on contaminants, if any.

Specific recommendations

There are several suggestions for presenting nutrient data in a computerized database.

Data from Nutrient Value of Alaska Native Foods (Nobmann, 1993) is the most comprehensive source of information on Alaska Native foods compiled to date and can serve as the basis for nutrient information.

Users unfamiliar with nutrient data need some means of evaluating the significance of the numbers. Nutrient data could be presented in different size fonts representing a qualitative evaluation of the amount; bold or large print indicates the food is a good source of the nutrient.

The user may need background information on the importance or function of various nutrients. Within the table of nutrient values for foods, drop-down windows could be developed for each nutrient stating its key functions. Information in TABLE 5 could be used.

Visually appealing information would be desirable to encourage use. The document "What's in Alaska Foods" could serve as a basis. (See APPENDIX B for examples.) The multi-color bar charts illustrate nutrient contribution of subsistence foods in relation to a person's needs for the day. This material was developed based on requests from health providers throughout Alaska. An explanation for the term Daily Value may be needed.

A more labor intense option is to generate new graphic presentations adapted from other sources, such as bar graphs from Canadian publications. Applicability to Alaska would need to be assured.

Where data are presented in the database, listing number of times foods are eaten by community, explanatory screens should display automatically which describe the details of the study. For example, if "Number of times food eaten" is a column heading, information should be given describing how many person-days of 24-h recalls were collected to obtain this number in each community, and that recalls were collected in each of four seasons.

Testing of the database for ease of use is encouraged for the entire database. People other than the developers might use it for a period of time and make suggestions for improvement (alpha test). Once modifications are incorporated, it could be evaluated by a new group of users who are representative of the intended audience (beta test).

7.) ISER would like to state what communities/regions lack consumption data. If ISER wishes to list those communities for which quantified information on consumption of subsistence foods was not found, they could list communities that do not appear in the references cited in TABLE 1. However, not all references describe village specific consumption. Four of the seven references report findings for the villages combined. In anticipation of collecting additional information, identification of regions lacking information may be more cost-effective and more useful for certain purposes. If qualitative descriptions of subsistence food consumption are to be included, additional references should be considered (Anderson, et al, 1977; Halderson, 1991; and references cited by McMillan, 1982, should be reviewed further. The latter reference lists citations prior to1982 however.).

8.) ISER also would like to incorporate the data from the reports on consumption of subsistence foods in a single spreadsheet. The information collected here provides a beginning, but there are several limitations. The major drawback to establishing such a database is the lack of uniform methods in the investigations. The investigations had a variety of purposes. Data were collected in different ways; e.g. open ended responses in 24-h recalls vs. predetermined foods in food-frequency questionnaires vs. food calendars. Consumption was reported in different ways; e.g. number of times a food was consumed, or units of various nutrients supplied by local foods, or in ounces. Subsistence foods were defined with varying degrees of precision; e.g. a category might be "local meat" or it might be more specific such as seal meat. Data were most often aggregated rather than reported by individual community. These limitations suggest that a spreadsheet would have limited information and numerous explanatory notes. The only features commonly listed might be the community where data were collected, and the names of some foods reported as consumed.

ISER would like to have copies of reports listed in TABLE 1 for reproduction and distribution. The regulations governing copyright and reproduction of each document would be the governing factors for this process. Some documents are lengthy:

Heller and Scott, (1967) is 281 pages. The document is out of print but two copies are available in the UAA Library.

Nobmann, E.A.D. (1996) is a 305-page thesis. It is available in the UAF Library and copies may be obtained through UMI, 300 North Zeeb Road, P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346.

Thomas (1982) is 312 pages. It is available on microfiche in the UAA Library. The other articles were printed in periodical journals.

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