title: The health and nutrition of young indigenous women in north Queensland - intergenerational implications of poor food quality, obesity, diabetes, tobacco smoking and alcohol use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document nutritional status and health behaviours of young indigenous women of childbearing age in rural communities in north Queensland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey of 424 Aboriginal and 232 Torres Strait Islander (TSI) women aged 15-34 years, conducted in twenty-three rural and remote communities of far north Queensland in 1999-2000, with follow-up of a smaller cohort (n 132) in 2006-2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weight, waist circumference, intake of fruit and vegetables, smoking, alcohol intake, fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, gamma-glutamyltransferase, red cell folate (RCF), interval weight and waist gain and incidence of diabetes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-one per cent of Aboriginal and 69 % of TSI had central obesity, 62 % were smokers, 71 % drank alcohol regularly and of those, 60 % did so at harmful levels. One third of Aboriginal and 16 % of TSI women had very low RCF levels. In the group followed up, there was a mean annual waist gain of 1.6 cm in Aboriginal women and 1.2 cm in TSI, 0.5 kg/m2 in BMI and 1.5 kg in weight. Incidence of new type 2 diabetes mellitus in this cohort was 29.1 per 1000 person-years (py) (95 % CI 14.0, 52.8) in Aboriginal women and 13.9 per 1000 py (95 % CI 5.6, 28.5) among TSI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High prevalence and incidence of central obesity and diabetes, poor nutrition, high rates of alcohol use and tobacco smoking together with young maternal age, provide a poor intra-uterine environment for many indigenous Australian babies, and contribute to high perinatal morbidity and future disability. Community level interventions to improve pre-pregnancy nutrition and health behaviours in young women are urgent.
authors.affiliation: University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia. robyn.mcdermott@unisa.edu.au
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McCulloch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000208:ethnology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology*; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000592:standards; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009752:Nutritional Status; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000208:ethnology*; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D055105:Waist Circumference; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid