FIRST NATIONS NUTRITION
Ban on pop urged
Carlin Nordstrom wants Indigenous communities to ban pop from their schools.
“It’s an epidemic on, I would say, 90 per cent of Indigenous communities,” says Nordstrom, the owner of Kisik Sports, Health and Wellness. Nordstrom gives motivational talks in Indigenous schools in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where he’s witnessed shockingly high sugar consumption.
“The key, besides the kids, is to educate the parents.”
Nordstrom has an eye-opening example he shows students and parents: A large freezer bag half full of sugar. It’s the equivalent of the sugar in two bottles of pop per day over one week, which, he said, is a low sugar consumption level in many communities.
“I’m telling them, you can start to do something, and we’ll take steps, or the status quo is (that) your kids are going to have a lot of health problems going forward,” said Nordstrom.
Data released last year by Statistics Canada’s community health survey showed Saskatchewan leading the country in child and youth obesity rates. Nearly one in five people aged five to 17 (19.1 per cent of them) were obese in 2015.
According to Brie Hnetka, Saskatchewan’s regional director for Diabetes Canada, Indigenous people are three to five times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than the general population.
Nordstrom is a Poundmaker First Nation member. He was adopted during the Sixties Scoop and grew up in Warman.
He became the first player from Warman’s Minor Hockey league to join the Saskatoon Blazers (Midget AAA level). He later played pro for four years all over North America.
In 1999, he attended the Ottawa Senators camp. A picture of him playing with the team caps off the motivational talk he gives in schools now.
The racism he experienced motivated him to succeed.
“I was the only Indigenous kid on the (hockey) team. It was your typical racial slurs from some of the other teams … and I’d hear it around the community often, too.”
He vividly remembers the day he decided to start Kisik.
In 2016, he was watching the news about Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, which had declared a state of emergency. Eleven young people attempted suicide in just one day in the community of 2,000 people. Later that year, there was a rash of suicides in northern Saskatchewan.
The news hit Nordstrom hard. He knew he wanted to help.
“I had a background with my hockey career to make a difference in some of these kids’ lives and hopefully prevent further suicides.”
He started Kisik by holding sports camps.
“Keeping kids active has a direct correlation to their mental health,” he explained.
It evolved from there as he saw a need for motivational, anti-bullying presentations, obesity and diabetes educational workshops.
“I had no idea I’d be going into this field of health and wellness. The pop consumption was overwhelming for me to see. It became something I knew that I had to do.”
He spoke recently at Kehewin Cree Nation’s school in Alberta. Principal Guy David said Nordstrom’s multi-faceted presentation had a dramatic impact on the faculty. Nordstrom inspired the kids to achieve in sports.
“But more importantly,” emphasized David, “to learn about the dangers of sugar.
“We are really considering now as a school phasing out all sugar products that are in our canteens. (And) try as best we can to have healthy canteens for all our students,” said David.
Since Nordstrom began Kisik, he’s worked with over 2,000 kids.
This summer, he’s partnered with Sask Sport to hold a series of hockey camps with inner city kids in Saskatoon, along with dryland training camps in North Battleford and Prince Albert.
His primary goal though, is to get sugar out of Indigenous communities.
The pop consumption was overwhelming for me to see. It became something I knew that I had to do.