The Health of Navajo Women: Findings from the Navajo Health and Nutrition Survey, 1991–19921

Cancer-screening behaviors, reproductive history, risk behaviors during pregnancy and chronic disease risk factors were examined in a representative sample of 566 Navajo women residing on the Navajo Reservation in 1991–1992. Among all women 15 y and older, 59% were overweight, 4% were current smoker...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of nutrition Vol. 127; no. 10; pp. 2128S - 2133S
Main Authors Strauss, Karen F., Mokdad, Ali, Ballew, Carol, Mendlein, James M., Will, Julie C., Goldberg, Howard I., White, Linda, Serdula, Mary K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Inc 01.10.1997
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Summary:Cancer-screening behaviors, reproductive history, risk behaviors during pregnancy and chronic disease risk factors were examined in a representative sample of 566 Navajo women residing on the Navajo Reservation in 1991–1992. Among all women 15 y and older, 59% were overweight, 4% were current smokers, 10% currently used smokeless tobacco and 12% were anemic. Seventy-one percent of Navajo women aged 18 and older reported ever having had a Pap smear, but only 35% of women aged 50 and over reported ever having had a mammogram. Among parous women, the prevalence of having received no prenatal care for any pregnancy declined from 60% among women 60 and older to 13% among women 20–29 y of age, and the prevalence of ever having had a child born at home declined from 82 to 2%. These data suggest marked secular improvement in these pregnancy-related risk behaviors. However, data on cancer-screening behaviors indicate opportunities to improve health of Navajo women by increasing their use of mammography and Pap smear screening services.
ISSN:0022-3166
1541-6100
DOI:10.1093/jn/127.10.2128S