Grant: Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Indigenous Peoples' Health

First Nations (FN) people in rural Canada have high risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The prevalence of youth-onset T2D in Manitoba is the highest among the provinces in Canada. The majority of youth-onset T2D in Manitoba lives in rural or remote FN communities. Breastfeeding initiation reduced the risk of diabetes in mothers and their children. Breastfeeding is the traditional method for feeding babies, but the rate of breastfeeding is low in FN communities. FN women in rural or remote communities have less access to prenatal and breastfeeding education compared to urban women due to geographic, socioeconomic and historical factors. Gut bacteria in infants play important roles in the development of obesity, T2D and the beneficial effects of breastfeeding in offspring, however, limited studies have been conducted in FN people in the rapidly growing field. The proposed study will partner with community Elders to educate FN women and family members with traditional and Western knowledge on the importance of a healthy diet, breast milk, and the role of gut bacteria in the health of FN women and children. We will examine the impact of breastfeeding on infant gut bacteria and the relationship with colostrum milk and infant growth with supports from community research assistants. The results will help to develop new biomarkers to guide breastfeeding and mother's food intake. We have invited Indigenous health professionals and researchers to join the research team. FN people and their traditions will be respected. FN communities and participants are the owners of the data. The privacy of participants will be protected. The community will have the ownership and the control of the data. The study will reduce the inequity of health care for rural-living FN women and help to rationalize an evidence-based and scalable breastfeeding program to reduce the risk of obesity and T2D in rural and remote Indigenous communities in Canada.