Background: Excess weight (EW) a public health problem in First Nations living on the reserves of British Columbia (BC). EW is a multifactorial condition involving biological, genetic, cultural and environmental and sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. We hypothesize that age is a risk factor of excess weight in that population. The objective of this study was to determine whether age is an important factor to be considered in interventions aiming to prevent or manage excess weight, specifically obesity. Method: A cross-sectional study on data collected in 2008 and 2009 through a research study named “First Nations Food, Nutrition and Environment Study” (FNFNES), aiming to document the nutritional status and exposure to contaminants in Canadian First Nations communities living south of the 60th parallel. Three level’s random sampling: province, communities and households. 493 women and 356 men aged 19 years and over were randomly selected from households in 20 communities. The statistical analysis software (SAS 9.1) was used to carry out univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Association between excess weight and age was observed only in women. As compared to reference age group (19 – 30years), obesity was increased 2.2 times in the 31 to 50 years age category and 4.2 times in the 50 to 70 years category. Similar trend was observed for overweight which augmented 1.06 and 1.28 times respectively in the 31 to 50 years and 51 to 70 years categories. No association was observed in men. Conclusions: EW was associated to age in the FN women. In men, although no significant association was seen between the two variables, the prevalence of EW increased with age in bivariate analysis. Policies aiming reduction of excess weight should be implemented in early life, in childhood, for a healthier and safer adulthood.

Introduction: Nutritional status of children is influenced by dietary. Better dietary diversity helps ensure intake of essential nutrients especially for growing school-aged children. The aim of this study was to assess both the nutritional status of school children in Ibanda and Nyantende health districts, as well as the level of consumption and of dietary diversity score in their household. Methods: in a cluster cross-sectional survey, the present study examined nutritional status, through weight-for-age (WA), height-for-age (HA) and weight-for-height (WH) and dietary diversity score of 750 school children aged 6 to 12 years old. Dietary diversity scores were assessed based on frequency of consumption of individual food items categorized into 7 individual food groups. Dietary diversity was appraised with two types of indices: a dietary diversity score (DDS) based on the number of food categories consumed over a week and a weekly food frequency score (WFFS) which also takes into account the frequency of food intake Dietary diversity scores were assessed based on frequency of consumption of individual food items categorized into 7 individual food groups. Results: Chronic malnutrition is still a public health problem in school-aged children in all studied children, 35.9% of children aged 6 to 12 years were stunted (H/A <- 2ET) of which 16.4% in the severe form (H/A <-3ET); 2.0% were thinner for their height, so they were suffering from acute malnutrition (BMI <-2ET); 5.3% were moderately underweight (thinner for their age (W/A <-2ET). The stunted growth of the child was related to maternal illiteracy (p <0.05); girls were thinner for their height than boys (p <0.05). Overall, 7% of households had a food consumption limit and 19.6% had a non-diversified diet. Food consumption and dietary diversity scores were better in urban than in rural areas (p <0.000). Both indices were significantly associated with maternal age and the mother's high level of education (p <0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of different types of malnutrition confirms the existence of real public health problems. Socio-demographic characteristics have significant influence on food consumption and dietary diversity among households in our study field.