Traditional physical activities have numerous physiological and psychosocial benefits for Indigenous youth around the world. Little is known about the positive health and wellness impacts of traditional physical activity experiences on Indigenous youths. The aim of this systematic review is to explore the holistic health and wellness impacts of traditional physical activities on Indigenous youth from certain North American and Oceania geographic areas. A systematic search of four electronic databases (PubMed, ERIC, Scopus and Web of Science) was conducted to identify peer-reviewed publications of qualitative research exploring the diverse health experiences of traditional physical activities for Indigenous youth in Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand and Australia. A qualitative synthesis of studies between 2006 and 2018 were included, and findings were synthesized using an integrated Indigenous-ecological model, which broadly captures health and wellness impacts under intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, community and policy level outcomes using medicine wheel teachings. In total, nine studies were identified via this search. Overall, the literature described numerous emotional, mental and spiritual benefits of traditional physical activity, and youth experiences were affected by familial and communal relationships, and systemic factors. Among Indigenous youth, this research shows the importance of including traditional physical activity in future programs and partnerships with community expertise.

Obesity incidence and prevalence is of increasing concern in First Nations communities around Canada. In addition to diet and physical activity, environmental pollutants have been suggested as a potential contributory factor to obesity associated morbidity. Owing to the exposure of Cree First Nations people to various persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and toxic metals, it is important to examine the association between obesity in these communities, and contaminant body burdens. To determine whether selected morphometry measures (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC] and body fat percentage) are associated with body burdens of 10 POPs and toxic metals. Using data from the Nituuchischaayihtitaau Aschii Multi-community Environment-and-Health study in the eastern James Bay (Eeyou Istchee) Cree communities, this cross-sectional study examined morphometric and contaminant measures of 695 eligible participants. Sex stratified principal component analysis was conducted on blood plasma concentrations of 10 POPs and toxic metals. BMI, WC, body fat percent, and resultant contaminant components were used to create generalized linear models, and adjusted for covariates (age, total lipids, smoking, and n-3 fatty acids). Two principal components (PCs; PC-1 and PC-2) were extracted for both males and females. For females, PC-1 explained 73.3% and PC-2 explained 10.5%, and for males, PC-1 explained 71.6% and PC-2 explained 11.2% of the variance in contaminant burden. For both sexes, PC-1 loaded highly for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, organochlorine pesticides and, to a lesser extent, mercury and lead. PC-2 loaded highly for cadmium for females, and cadmium and lead for males. After adjusting for covariates, the generalized linear model showed that PC-2 was significantly and negatively associated with BMI, body fat percent, and WC in males and females. Our cross-sectional analysis indicates a negative association between cadmium with various obesity measures in both males and females. Null associations were found between PCBs and organochlorine pesticides and morphometry.