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This thesis explored the place of vitamin C in the Inuit diet through analysis of traditional food sources, assessment of contemporary intake among women aged 20--40 years, estimation of a pre contact intake of vitamin C and qualitative interviews to contextualize current food choices that can affect vitamin C intake. This thesis provides the first reports of vitamin C values for several Inuit traditional foods. There are rich sources of vitamin C in the Inuit traditional food although they are infrequently consumed by this group of women. On average half of the women interviewed in each season met the 1990 Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) set at 30 mg/day, however, only 34% of the group met the new Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) of 60 mg/day. Historically, ample vitamin C was obtained through the traditional Inuit food system.

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of physical activity (PA) measurement in an Inuit population with a self-administered questionnaire. The objective was to validate a culturally relevant physical activity questionnaire that measures Inuit PA levels. To do this, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was evaluated against the Caltrac accelerometer and anthropometric/physiologic measurements. / There were a number of compliance problems encountered when implementing the Caltrac in the pilot community which resulted in too few Caltrac scores available for analyses. However, IPAQ PA score (N=44) was significantly inversely related to Body Mass Index (p≤0.05) and positively related to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p≤0.03). / The results indicate that the IPAQ has potential but needs further refinements to be acceptable to Inuit populations and needs re-evaluation in a larger sample. The participants found it very difficult to remember the time spent performing each activity and, in general, the IPAQ was not well received.

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