Supporting Holistic Health and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Risk Reduction Among Young Native Females Prior to Pregnancy: A Qualitative Exploration

Sarah A. Stotz (), Luciana E. Hebert, Lisa Scarton, Kelli Begay, Kelly Gonzales, Heather Garrow, Melanie Charley, Melanie Aspaas, Denise Charron-Prochownik and Spero M. Manson
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Sarah A. Stotz: Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Luciana E. Hebert: The Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health, Washington State University, Seattle, WA 99163, USA
Lisa Scarton: Department of Family, Consumer and Health Sciences, College of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Kelli Begay: Independent Researcher, Oklahoma City, OK 73012, USA
Kelly Gonzales: School of Public Health, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97201, USA
Heather Garrow: Saint Regis Mohawk Diabetes Center for Excellence, Akwesasne, NY 13655, USA
Melanie Charley: Independent Researcher, Portland, OR 97035, USA
Melanie Aspaas: Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Denise Charron-Prochownik: Department of Health Promotion and Development, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Spero M. Manson: Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 22, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: AI/AN communities are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Decreasing the risk of GDM can interrupt the intergenerational cycle of diabetes in AI/AN families, and can decrease diabetes-related health disparities. The goal of this study was to explore ways of supporting holistic health and reducing the risk of GDM among young American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) females prior to pregnancy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adult AI/AN women (>18 years) who had GDM or who have young female relatives (e.g., daughters) (n = 41), AI/AN females between 12 and 24 years (n = 18), and key experts in food/nutrition and health within AI/AN communities (n = 32). Three themes emerged: (1) guidance on how to support young females’ holistic wellness; (2) evidence that generations of colonial violence, including forced removal, forced poverty, and the imposition of a Western-based food system, causes deeper, systemic fracturing of traditional cultural food knowledge and practices; and the fact that (3) opportunities for improved adolescent female health are rooted in AI/AN values and how AI/AN people resist the impacts of anti-Indigenous racism through family-based, community-led, and holistic health. These themes suggest alternative understandings about the relationships between food insecurity and holistic pre-pregnancy health and can guide our next steps in decreasing health disparities in these communities.

Keywords: pre-pregnancy; Indigenous; American Indian and Alaska native; adolescent females; food and nutrition insecurity; holistic wellness; culturally centered; traditional foods; gestational diabetes risk reduction; diabetes risk reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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