Daily consumption of seal oil or salmon associated with lower risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabaskan Indians of Alaska
Pages 271-275 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Department of Medicine, University of Washington
Medical Service, Veterans Affairs Hospital, Seattle, WA
Diabetes Program, Alaska Area Native Health Service, Anchorage, AK
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Alaska Area Native Health Service, Anchorage, AK
Source
Pages 271-275 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
The prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) among Alaska Natives is rising but remains lower than other Native Americans. This low prevalence may result from diet. Among Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabaskans, we studied consumption of seal oil and salmon in relation to glucose intolerance. A screening study was performed in 666 Alaska Natives > 40 years old in 15 villages near the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Subjects with a random capillary blood glucose > 6.72 mM underwent oral glucose tolerance testing. Cases included 11 incident and 26 previously diagnosed cases of NIDDM, and 17 incident and 1 previously diagnosed case of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain food frequency data, available for 86% of subjects. Compared to less-than-daily consumption, both daily seal oil [odds ratio (OR) 0.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1-0.8] and daily salmon consumption (OR 0.4, CI 0.2-1.0) were associated with a lower prevalence of IGT and NIDDM, controlling for age, ethnicity, body mass index, and sex. The effects were similar when limited to incident cases: OR 0.3, CI 0.1-1.3 for seal oil and OR 0.4, CI 0.1-1.3 for salmon. Eating seal oil fewer than 5 times per week did not confer protection. Diet may be a modifiable risk for glucose intolerance in this population.