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Overweight and obesity among Alaskan Eskimos of the Bering Straits region: the Alaska Siberia Project

International Journal of Obesity volume 24, pages 939–944 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To document the height, weight, BMI and prevalence of obesity for Eskimo residents of four villages of the Bering Straits Region of Alaska.

DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: 454 Non-pregnant residents over 24 y of age, with at least one Eskimo grandparent participated in one cross sectional survey within each village.

MEASUREMENTS: Height, weight, calculation of BMI (kg/m2), proportion of ‘overweight’ (BMI 25–29.9), and proportion of ‘obese’ (BMI≥30).

RESULTS: For women and men, respectively, mean heights were 153.4 and 165.2 cm; weights were 64.2 and 71.6 kg; and BMI were 27.2 and 26.2 kg/m2 after age standardization. For women, 27.9% were overweight, and 32.8% were obese compared with 36.2% and 15.6%, respectively, for men. Alaskan Eskimo participants of the Alaska Siberia Project had a significantly lower proportion of total overweight (BMI≥25, 54.9% for women, and 32.0% for men) compared with the three sites of the Strong Heart Study, which ranged from 65.9 to 80.2% for women and 53.6 to 66.7% for men. Compared with American men of all races, the proportion of overweight and obese participants was similar for Eskimo men. The proportion of obese was significantly higher for Eskimo women compared with American women of all races, but the proportion of overweight was similar.

CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of obesity among the Alaskan Eskimos is lower than for American Indians, the high proportion of overweight observed in this study is of concern for Alaskan Eskimo adults, especially for women.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the residents of the participating communities for their gracious hospitality, and for their extensive efforts in participating in this project. We wish to acknowledge Ann Marie Mayer, ANP, MPH and Amanda Adler, MD, PhD for their roles in organizing and implementing the screening clinics. We thank anthropometric measurers Noemi Epstein and Sue Shattuck for their time and expertise.

This study was supported by grant DK47099 from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive Diseases to Sven OE Ebbesson. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Indian Health Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alaska Siberia Medical Research Program, University of Alaska, Box 730, Seward, 99664, AK, USA

    PM Risica, C Schraer & SOE Ebbesson

  2. Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr., Anchorage, 99508, AK, USA

    PM Risica & C Schraer

  3. Center for Human Nutrition, The Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, 21205, MD, USA

    PM Risica & B Caballero

  4. Alaska Native Medical Center, Diabetes Program, Indian Health Service, 255 Gambell St, Anchorage, 99501, AK, USA

    C Schraer

  5. Alaska Area Native Health Service, Nutrition Services, Indian Health Service, 250 Gambell St, Anchorage, 99501, AK, USA

    ED Nobmann

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Correspondence to PM Risica.

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Risica, P., Schraer, C., Ebbesson, S. et al. Overweight and obesity among Alaskan Eskimos of the Bering Straits region: the Alaska Siberia Project. Int J Obes 24, 939–944 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801259

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