Synthesis and summary

This paper describes the state of health of Nunavik Inuit women and the sexual health profile of men and women as reported during the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004. The results focus on the preventive attitude among women such as screening techniques of cervical and breast cancer and also on women’s behaviour during pregnancy and their bone health status. It also concentrates on preventive sexual behaviours among men and women such as the number of sexual partners in the preceding year…

Notions of mental health and wellness depend on core cultural values. For Inuit, these include respect and care for others in the extended family and community as well as for the land, animals and the environment. Inuit understanding of the healthy person gives importance both to self-sufficiency and to interdependence. Healthy individuals show resilience in their ability to solve problems through innovation and resourcefulness and in their ability to work together with others for a common…

Tobacco smoke contains many toxic substances. It affects the health of smokers and of non-smokers exposed to it and increases the risks of certain types of cancers and respiratory diseases. Tobacco products are highly addictive and can cause the premature death of smokers.

The 1992 Inuit health survey revealed an important proportion of smokers. Tobacco use was measured again in the 2004 survey. In the latter survey, all participants aged 15 years and over were questioned about…

Many Inuit community members have expressed their concern about the rates of sexual abuse in Nunavik. The objective of the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 was, among other things, to gather information regarding the prevalence of sexual abuse and the characteristics of the victims in Nunavik. A total of 856 adults completed the sexual abuse section of the confidential questionnaire from which the current data are drawn.

Results reveal that one in three adults has experienced sexual…

Initial observational studies presented the Inuit as a population particularly protected against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the plague of developed countries. However, because of the abandonment of traditional lifestyles, and the high prevalence of some risk factors (such as smoking 73% and obesity 19%), conclusions from the 1992 Santé Québec health survey of the Inuit population from Nunavik anticipated an increase in CVD. Twelve years later, the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004…

Many Inuit community members have expressed their concern over increased violence in Nunavik homes and streets. Yet little is known about the actual prevalence of violent behaviour. The objective of this summary is to provide current data on physical violence, the characteristics of adults who are affected by violence, and the origin of perpetrators among the Inuit of Nunavik. Descriptive data on property offences are also provided.

During the course of the Nunavik Inuit Health…

The activities of hunting, fishing and collection of resources from the land and sea are of central importance to the health of Inuit in Nunavik. For approximately twenty years now, confidence in these resources and Inuit access to them have been threatened by reports of environmental contaminants in wildlife, social and economic trends influencing the time available to hunt and fish, and more recently, reports of climate change and variability and influences on the availability and…

The Inuit of Nunavik are exposed to metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are carried from southern to northern latitudes by oceanic and atmospheric transport and biomagnified in Arctic food webs. As the Inuit traditional diet comprises large amounts of tissues from marine mammals, fish and terrestrial wild game, the Inuit are more exposed to these contaminants than populations living in southern regions. The traditional suite of legacy POPs comprises polychlorinated dibenzo p…

In Nunavik, common practices such as the consumption of untreated water and raw game may promote exposure to pathogenic agents responsible for zoonoses, infections that may be transmitted from animals to humans, as well as for food-borne and water-borne infections. As part of the 2004 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, information was gathered to depict the supply of drinking water and to determine the prevalence of certain infections among the Inuit population, including gastroenteritis.

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Alcohol and drug use

The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, conducted throughout the 14 communities of Nunavik in autumn 2004, provides an update of the alcohol and drug use descriptive profile of the population aged 15 and over and identifies the sociodemographic characteristics associated with substance use.

In Nunavik in 2004, the proportion of drinkers was 77%, which is lower than the rate observed in Canada and in Quebec. This rate, however, represents an…