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

• Published in: The 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
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.10.1997
• Subjects: American Indians; cancer screening; chronic disease; Navajo women; pregnancy; American Indians; cancer screening; chronic disease; pregnancy; Navajo women
• ISSN: 0022-3166; 1541-6100
• DOI: 10.1093/jn/127.10.2128S

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.