This affiliate is the first on a First Nations reservation in Canada, and it’s giving new fitness options to the country’s indigenous people. Emily Beers reports.
There’s no point in sugarcoating the truth: Life for many indigenous people in Canada is rough.
Diseases like diabetes are four times more prevalent among the indigenous population than the rest of the country. Life expectancy on a reservation is eight years less in men and five and a half years less in women. Suicide rates are also three times as high among indigenous people. Alcoholism is rampant and so is obesity. And proper nutrition is often not understood, let alone followed.
Despite federal incentives and funding to improve the living conditions and health of First Nations people, year after year statistics show that, as a whole, they rank low in most socio-economic measurements.
But on at least one First Nations reservation in Canada, you’ll find a group who are tired of the blame game, tired of spending time analyzing exactly why and how their people got where they are today. The members of this group are choosing to take problems into their own hands and are committing to improving their lives.