Indigenous Peoples, especially women and children, are affected disproportionately by malnutrition and diet‐related health problems. Addressing this requires an investigation of the structural conditions that underlie unequal access to resources and loss of traditional lifestyles and necessitates inclusive approaches that shed light onto these issues and provide strategies to leverage change. Indigenous Peoples' food systems are inextricably connected to land, which in turn is interwoven with issues of self‐determination, livelihoods, health, cultural and spiritual heritage, and gender. Ongoing loss of land and the dominant agri‐food model further threaten Indigenous Peoples' food systems. Continuing gender‐based discrimination undermines the self‐determination and rights of women and negatively impacts their health, nutritional status, and overall well‐being, as well as the well‐being of households and communities. We suggest that feminist political ecology and modern matriarchal studies provide holistic interlinking frameworks for investigating underlying issues of power and inequality. We further argue that a focus on the principles of respect, responsibility, and relationships, and an openness to different worldviews, can facilitate a bridging of Indigenous and Western approaches in research and community action conducted in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. This can contribute to creating new ways of knowing regarding Indigenous Peoples' food systems, equally valuing both knowledge systems. Indigenous Peoples' rights, right to food, and food sovereignty are frames that, despite some tensions, have the common goal of self‐determination. Through their ability to inform, empower, and mobilize, they provide tools for social movements and communities to challenge existing structural inequalities and leverage social change.

Peruvian adolescents are at high nutritional risk, facing issues such as overweight and obesity, anemia, and pregnancy during a period of development. Research seeking to understand contextual factors that influence eating habits to inform the development of public health interventions is lacking in this population. This study aimed to understand socio-cultural influences on eating among adolescents in periurban Lima, Peru using qualitative methods. Semi-structured interviews and pile sort activities were conducted with 14 adolescents 15–17 years. The interview was designed to elicit information on influences on eating habits at four levels: individual (intrapersonal), social environmental (interpersonal), physical environmental (community settings), and macrosystem (societal). The pile sort activity required adolescents to place cards with food images into groups and then to describe the characteristics of the foods placed in each group. Content analysis was used to identify predominant themes of influencing factors in interviews. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering analysis was completed with pile sort data. Individual influences on behavior included lack of financial resources to purchase food and concerns about body image. Nutrition-related knowledge also played a role; participants noted the importance of foods such as beans for anemia prevention. At the social environmental level, parents promoted healthy eating by providing advice on food selection and home-cooked meals. The physical environment also influenced intake, with foods available in schools being predominantly low-nutrient energy-dense. Macrosystem influences were evident, as adolescents used the Internet for nutrition information, which they viewed as credible. To address nutrition-related issues such as obesity and iron-deficiency anemia in Peruvian adolescents, further research is warranted to elucidate the roles of certain factors shaping behavior, particularly that of family, cited numerous times as having a positive influence. Addressing nutrition-related issues such as obesity and iron-deficiency anemia in this population requires consideration of the effect of social and environmental factors in the context of adolescent lifestyles on behavior. Nutrition education messages for adolescents should consider the cultural perceptions and importance of particular foods, taking into account the diverse factors that influence eating behaviors.

The Third Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition was held at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, 2–5 October 2018. This conference was cohosted by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) and the University of Minnesota Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute, through a gift from the SMSC's Seeds of Native Health campaign to the University of Minnesota. It was held on SMSC land, as were the first 2 conferences, and continued the conference series work of sharing the most novel and high-impact research and programs that address the nutrition and health inequities faced by Native American and other Indigenous communities.

Indigenous Peoples are reclaiming their food security, nutrition, and well‐being by revitalizing food systems, livelihoods, knowledge‐systems, and governance. Our food security research is guided by sustainable self‐determination that focuses on restoring Indigenous cultural responsibilities and relationships to land, each other, and the natural world (Corntassel, 2008). Our Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) research team from Kahnawà:ke, in Quebec, Canada, examines food insecurity experiences in our community to explore ways of upholding our Haudenosaunee responsibilities and enhancing local food security. We collaboratively designed the study and interviewed Kahnawakehró:non (people from the Kahnawake community) with traditional knowledge, extensive community experience, and interests in food and culture. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed, and analysed by the team. Analysis characterized food insecurity experiences and conditions that challenge and enable food security with attention to traditional food systems, relationships to land, and gender‐related responsibilities. Findings show that communal responsibilities generate resilient strategies that provide for all in times of crisis, and long‐term food insecurity is managed through social programs, organized charities, and family support. Enhancing food security involves healing and protecting a limited land‐base for food production, integrating food production with community priorities for education, training, health, economic development, and scientific innovation. Nurturing spiritual connections with tionhnhéhkwen (life sustaining foods), the natural world, and each other calls for accelerated teaching and practicing our original instructions. Challenges in developing food security leadership, balancing capitalism and subsistence economies, and strengthening social relationships are rooted in the historical colonial and current settler‐colonial context that disrupts all aspects of Kanien'kehá:ka society.

This pilot study examined the influence of cultural immersion on willingness to try fruits and vegetables (FV) among children 3–12 years old in three summer camps in Guam with different cultural exposure levels: cultural immersion camp (CIC), high exposure; university day camp (UDC), moderate exposure; and recreational sports camp (RSC), zero exposure. Children, ages 3–12 years old for CIC and UDC and 5–12 years old for RSC, participated: CIC (n = 47), UDC (n = 23), and RSC (n = 33). Children’s willingness to try FV was assessed with the Adapted WillTry tool before and after each program. Whole FV intakes were assessed concurrently using the mobile food record in CIC and UDC. Using multivariate regression, WillTry post-assessment outcomes were modeled adjusting for pre-assessment, child characteristics, exposure, and parent cultural affiliation. Unique to the Adapted WillTry tool are three FV scales, local novel, local common, and imported, which are classified by source (local or imported) and/or familiarity (novel or common). WillTry adjusted mean FV post-scores by highest exposure camp to lowest were 2.2, 2.3, and 2.2 for local novel and 2.6, 2.6, and 2.6 for local common. No differences among camps were significant; however, there was an increase in the willingness to try scores for all FV score types and camps. The Traditions pilot study demonstrated: (1) feasibility of a multi-arm parallel design using existing community programs in limited-resource environments and (2) further examination of nutrition education components and contexts are needed to understand diet behaviors of indigenous populations.