More than half of Nunavut's Inuit preschool-aged children are lacking adequate daily nutrition, a new pair of studies suggests.

Research published this month in the Journal of Nutrition and the International Journal of Circumpolar Health showed that 56 per cent of Nunavut Inuit households with a young child were considered "child food insecure" in a dietary health survey.

The surveys, conducted in 16 Nunavut communities in 2007-08, also showed that seven out of 10 households with a child between the ages of three and five were "food insecure".

Child food insecurity rates in the survey sample were 10 times higher than national figures reported in the Canadian Community Health Survey, in which about five per cent of households were considered child food insecure.

Food secure

These households had access, at all times throughout the previous year, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.

Food insecure

At times during the previous year, these households were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money for food. In these households, adults or children (if present) or both adults and children experienced food insecurity.

Source: Health Canada

Dr. Grace Egeland, a McGill University associate professor in the school of dietetics and human nutrition, was the lead author for both papers.

The data should be used to help those characterized as food insecure plan how to improve their diets, she says.

"What's happening is that these stressors in the communities are having an impact on nutritional status, and over the long term, we would anticipate it would have implications on health," Egeland said.

"These are subtle changes in diet that over the long term can have negative consequences."

Food insecurity has been associated with lower education, household income and social assistance, according to Egeland.

Dietary intervention, support needed

The information for both reports was gathered as part of an Inuit Health Survey for International Polar Year.

Data from 1,901 households were considered in the Journal of Nutrition report. The other report, which focused more on preschoolers' dietary characteristics, considered data collected from 388 participants.

The International Journal of Circumpolar Health report concludes that both traditional foods and foods purchased from markets are needed in order for children to be considered food secure.

"Support systems and dietary interventions for families with young children are needed," the report adds.