Health-related effects of food and nutrition security: An evidence of the northern communities in Russia

Abstract

In the Arctic, anthropogenic pressure on the environment and progressing climate change bring together concerns over the effects of food consumption patterns on the health of the population. The goal of this study is to contribute to the development of a unified approach to revealing those effects and measuring healthy nutrition applicable across various types of circumpolar territories, populations, and consumption behavior. By applying the Delphi approach, the author builds a set of parameters along four pillars of food and nutrition security (FNS) and applied it to eight territories of the Russian Arctic. The linkages between FNS status and health are recognized by employing multiple regression analysis on the incidence rates of nutritional and metabolic disorders and diseases of the digestive system. The analysis involves: (1) urban agglomerations with prevalence of marketed food; (2) high-polluted industrial sites; (3) habitats of indigenous reindeer herders (meatbased diet); (4) coastal indigenous communities (fish-based diet). The study finds that, in Type 1 and 2 territories, health disorders are caused by poor quality of water, lack of proteins, vitamins, and minerals, and increasing share of marketed food in the diets. In Type 3 and 4 territories, higher reliance on traditional food results in lower incidence rates.

Keywords

• arctic
• environment
• food security
• nutrition
• rural areas
• urban agglomerations.