Grant: Project Grant

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 of FN people 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 growth and the development of obesity, T2D and the beneficial effects of breastfeeding. The disorders of gut bacteria may be implicated in the high prevalence of T2D in rural-living FN children. The proposed study will partner with community Elders to educate FN pregnant women and their family members with traditional and modern knowledge on the importance of a healthy diet, breast milk, and the role of gut bacteria in the development of obesity and diabetes. We will examine the impact of breastfeeding on infant gut bacteria and the relationship with breastfeeding and infant growth with supports from Elders and community assistants. The results will help to guide breastfeeding and mother's food intake. We have invited FN Elders, healthcare workers and researchers to join the research team. FN people and their traditions will be respected. The privacy of participants will be protected. The FN communities and participants will have the ownership and the control of the data. The project will reduce the inequity of perinatal 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 other rural and remote Indigenous communities in Canada.