Factors Affecting Health

Health is much more than the absence of disease. A number of factors have an impact on the health of individuals and communities, including income, housing, education,

Environment, and self-determination.

These factors are often referred to as the ‘determinants of health’.

When these factors are looked at through a health lens, we see that:

1.       Inuit have a very close connection to the land. Inuit health cannot be separated from the environment in which they live. Issues such as climate change and environmental contaminants are having a disproportionately high impact on Inuit. In fact, it is in the northern regions of the world where the impact of climate change is expected to be the greatest. Unfortunately, it is the northern regions, including Canada’s North, that lack the capacity to deal with such devastating events.

2.     Inadequate and overcrowded housing has led to high rates of respiratory illnesses and violence in                                                     Inuit communities. Tuberculosis rates in Inuit communities are 70 times the Canadian average.

3.       Inuit lag behind the rest of Canada in areas such as educational attainment and participation in the workforce.

 4.    In a study on food security in Kugaaruk, Nunavut, five out of six Inuit homes were classified as food  insecure.