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NUNAVUT
It's one of the hardest habits to kick because it seems so harmless. But when it comes to volume, it may be the most widely consumed addictive substance in Nunavut.

Cases of pop make up 90 per cent of the annual sealift order for the store in Pond Inlet. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

Pop, soda, cola, Coke - cases of the stuff fill co-op warehouses across the North, and make up 90 per cent of the annual sealift order for Pond Inlet's store, manager Dave Pike told Nunavut News/North in September.

The amount consumed is enough to cause concern for public health officials. Nunavut's new food guide, released in October, lists pop and caffeinated energy drinks under the "Unhealthy" category, along with doughnuts, potato chips and candy. "If you don't buy these," the guide suggests, "you will have more money for healthy food."

The government even considered a tax on unhealthy foods, particularly pop, Finance Minister Keith Peterson told the legislature in March 2010. But it didn't happen because it is an "inelastic" expense, he said.

"It doesn't matter how expensive it is, people will still buy it," said legislative lawyer Patrick Orr, who advised on Nunavut's new Public Health Act. "A tax doesn't discourage the purchase of soft drinks. I heard in some communities, when the sealift supply of soft drinks runs out, you can sell a can of pop for $5 a can."

Inuit are starting to feel the effects of high sugar intake. Type II diabetes is a growing concern, and it is driven by a rising obesity rate.

McGill University in Montreal looked at the consumption of soft drinks in Nunavut.

"We can't trace a good link between pop consumption and obesity, but we are aware it exists," said researcher Tracey Galloway, who studies Northern nutritional anthropology. "We found in 2007-08, the rate of obesity among adults was about 35 per cent, and that's a little higher than in the south. Obesity rates are on the rise."

For children, too, the concern is great. The study Galloway and colleagues performed surveyed caregivers about the eating habits of 400 three- to five-year-old children in Nunavut.

"Among them, obesity rates were higher than we'd seen before," Galloway said. "Thirty-nine per cent of kids are overweight ... the number we saw was higher than we had ever seen for Inuit kids and they are higher than in the south."

The solutions are simple and in line with Inuit traditional values. Eat more food that is prepared at home.

"For example, among kids who had consumed traditional food - 98 per cent had eaten traditional food in the last month, 46 per cent in the last day - they had a very high nutrient intake," Galloway said. "They had high levels of vitamins A, C, D, iron, magnesium and zinc. Those nutrients are so beneficial for the body, especially during periods of rapid growth at ages three to five. As an example, two per cent of the kids had eaten beluga maktaag, and those kids consumed one-third of their vitamin C intake from the maktaag alone. It's just such a high-quality food."

Galloway recommended switching water for pop, especially for children.

"One thing we did after the survey was sit down with rooms full of elders and ask them to tell us how children's diets have changed over the years and how those changes have affected children's bodies, and they have no problem making that connection," Galloway said. "Replacing that soft drink with water will lower that kid's calorie intake and obesity won't be such a concern for these kids."

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