Anthropometric indices of First Nations children and youth on first entry to Manitoba/Saskatchewan residential schools-1919 to 1953

Abstract

Background: First Nations people are experiencing increasing rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes but no anthropometric information exists from before the 1950s to provide context to these epidemics.

Objective: To compare anthropometric indices of First Nations children and youth on first entering residential schools with historical and contemporary reference groups.

Methods: This observational cross-sectional study used archival records from the Department of Indian Affairs to calculate body mass index (BMI), height for age (HA) and weight for age (WA) of all known children and youth undergoing physical examinations on first entering residential schools in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from 1919 to 1953. Proportions of children and youth in each BMI category were determined by age, sex, time period and residential school. Z-scores for HA and WA were determined by age group and sex. Finally, median heights and weights were compared with a non-Indigenous cohort from the 1953 Canadian survey.

Results: On admission to residential schools, 1,767 First Nations children and youth (847 boys, 920 girls) were more likely to have normal BMIs (79.8%) than Canadian children and youth today (66.5%), but lower rates of overweight/obesity (10.9% vs. 32.0%) and higher rates of underweight (9.3% vs. <2.0%). There was an overall trend of diminishing levels of underweight and increasing levels of overweight/obesity over time. Although 6.6% of boys and 7.9% of girls had HA Z-scores >-2, age-specific median heights tended to be higher than Canadian children and youth in 1953. Under 3% of children and youth had WA Z-scores of >-2.

Conclusions: A large majority of First Nations children and youth exhibited normal anthropometric indices on first entering residential schools in Manitoba and Saskatchewan from 1919 to 1953. These historical findings provide an important context to the current epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes and suggest that the nutritional conditions in these First Nations children's communities were satisfactory during the residential school era.

Keywords: BMI; First Nations; children; diabetes; height for age; indigenous; obesity; residential school; underweight; weight for age; youth.

Fig. 1

Body mass index categories of children first entering residential schools by time period and school site.

Fig. 2

Body mass index – 50th percentile values by age and sex: children from residential schools and current WHO growth charts.

Fig. 3

Height – 50th percentile values by age: children from residential schools, WHO growth charts, and 1953 Canadian survey.