FOODS AND NUTRIENTS IN REPORTED DIETS VERSUS PERCEIVED IDEAL DIETS OFYUKON-INDIAN PEOPLE

A common belief among northern aboriginal people is that they would en joy better health if their diet contained a greater proportion of indi genous foods. The accuracy of this belief was examined among 121 adult s of three Yukon First Nations,living in remote and urban communities, by comparing mean nutrient levels in a fall season 24-hour recall of actual food consumption with those in a quantitative one day's descrip tion of their perceived ideal diet for health. The latter was obtained immediately following the 24-hour recall using a similar interviewing technique. Graduated three-dimensional food models were used to estim ate portion sizes. Compared to the actual diet, the perceived ideal di et mentioned traditional foods about twice as often and provided, on a verage, 245 more kcal and higher levels of most nutrients (p < .05), a lthough the percentage of energy from fat was the same. The perceived ideal diet met health recommendations for more nutrients than the actu al diet; nevertheless, for both men and women, calcium remained below the recommendation, while folate remained below the recommendation for men. Energy from fat (34%) was higher than recommended. Implications of results are discussed for nutrition education in aboriginal communi ties.