The first cases of obesity have been documented in Arctic tribes — all thanks to your favorite carb-heavy foods.
Russian scientists reported the epidemic in the Nenets and Khanty people, nomadic reindeer herders who reside in northern Siberia. The spikes occurred after the remote tribes were introduced to instant noodles, pasta, bread and sugar.
The Nenets and Khanty tribes traditionally eat a diet of venison and fresh fish, which provides them with nutrients to help them withstand the Arctic’s harsh climate. Venison helps stave off frostbite, fish fat can increase resistance to cold stress, and certain fish, like pike or burbot, a large freshwater fish, can help prevent respiratory disease and hypertension.
Instant noodles, which are not found in the wild, are not a part of the diet the tribes have traditionally adhered to.
“Over the past few years the diet has changed considerably,” Alexey Titovsk, the regional director for science and innovation for the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region of the Russian Federation, told the Siberian Times. “and people living in the tundra started eating so-called chemically processed products.”
Additionally, the increase of oil and gas reserves in the region have given herders reason to travel less, since they can sell their meat to facility workers year-round. Consequently, this has shortened pasture routes by at least half in the last 25 years, and they’re burning fewer calories in their day-to-day activities.
“It turns out that it is very profitable now for the indigenous peoples to stay closer to the settlements,” Dr. Andrey Lobanov told the Siberian Times. “And their family well-being rises sharply.”
Herders pick up the portable and easy-to-prepare-foods from villages along the continually modernizing routes.
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