Fish consumption patterns among a sample of American Indian women of childbearing age

Introduction: Because fish consumption is the most important source of human exposure to methylmercury, an accurate assessment of consumption patterns is needed to support risk reduction activities. As a group, American Indian women of childbearing age may be at risk for exposures to methylmercury as traditional modes (i.e. fish advisories distributed with fishing licenses) may not reach reservation dwellers.

Purpose/Aims: Data reported here review study findings relating to fish consumption patterns for a sample of American Indian women of childbearing age enrolled in a tribal Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program in Montana.

Methods: A trained tribal research assistant administered an electronic questionnaire to a purposive sample of 65 American Indian women attending a tribal Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) clinic between March-June 2006. This study adapted questions utilized in the Anderson et al. (2004) 12-state fish consumption advisory message awareness research to investigate the study aims. Participants were given written and verbal information regarding the purpose of the study, assured that their decision or refusal to participate would not affect their WIC benefits.

Results: Among all participants, over half (55%) stated that they only ate one fish meal per month, 35% reported 2-4 fish meals, and 9% reported 5-8 meals per month. Approximately half of the sample reported that their family eats sport caught fish with the majority (75%) of these fish being larger than 15 inches. Sources of sport caught fish include lakes located on the reservation (28%), reservation streams (40%), and 31% reported eating fish from waters off of the reservation. Purchased fish consumed by this sample in the month prior to data collection include shellfish (62%), fish fillets, sticks, sandwiches (63%), light tuna (77%), and albacore tuna (39%).

Conclusion: American Indian women of childbearing age included in this sample appear to be at risk for methylmercury exposures based on their fish consumption patterns. These findings indicate that women in this sample consume similar amounts of fish as other populations but apparently rely to a greater extent on sport caught fish. Implications for risk communication programs will be discussed.