It was a common thing to hear on the reservation, "we need to go back to our old food," "our old food gave us strength," "this new westernized diet is making us weak." At least for those tribal members that we spoke with, returning to a more traditional diet, and more traditional harvesting practices. But it was unclear if the rest of the Tohono O'odham nation felt like this about their diets.
The number that I heard was 90%. 90% of Tohono O'odham nation has diabetes. It goes without saying that this is crippling, both economically and culturally. It was common to blame westernized food for this statistic. Angelo Jaoquin did, so did Joe Jaoquin.
Gary Nabban breaks down this issue, showing how tradition O'odham food serves to regulate blood sugar, preventing diabetes. He then shows how many in O'odham are predisposed to diabetes. Te highly saturated sugary diets and the genetic vulnerability of the O'odham to diabetes combines to lead to the health disaster. This appears to be the most compelling answer to the health issues in O'odham nation. But many O'odham appear not to blame the food as much as they should.
Our tour guide at the museum, a relatively young O'odham woman, stated clearly that lack of exercise, not diet is the main cause of O'odham health issues. She went on to say that people can eat whatever they want and still be healthy, as long as they are exercising. The man that was with her agreed with her. To me at least, no amount of gyms with indoor tracks will solve the O'odham health issues without a revamped diet.
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