Initial observational studies presented the Inuit as a population particularly protected against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the plague of developed countries. However, because of the abandonment of traditional lifestyles, and the high prevalence of some risk factors (such as smoking 73% and obesity 19%), conclusions from the 1992 Santé Québec health survey of the Inuit population from Nunavik anticipated an increase in CVD. Twelve years later, the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 produced a new portrait of the health of this Inuit population in order to determine, among other health conditions, the prevalence of CVD and diabetes as well as their corresponding risk factors, and to assess the evolution of these health outcomes since 1992.
In this major health study, 1056...