Native American Vitamin D deficiency epidemic.

This petition addresses the high rates of chronic and severe vitamin D deficiency among Native Americans.

Recent studies have revealed that Native Americans are suffering from an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.

This vitamin D deficiency is believed to be caused from the fact that 100% of Native Americans are unable to digest cow's milk properly because of lack of the enzyme called lactase in their bodies.
 
Because of this inability to digest milk native Americans cannot absorb vitamin D and calcium from milk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance

The primary source of vitamin D in the American diet is from vitamin D fortified milk.

The only other significant source of vitamin D in food is from fish which many Americans and Native Americans no longer eat much because of the high cost of fish.

Salmon and other fish which were once the staple of Native American's diets are now extinct in most U.S. rivers because of dams, pesticides and fertilizers.

Also many Native Americans tribes were moved away from major river systems and put on reservations, far away from major rivers where they historically lived and where salmon and other fish spawn and live.

On these new reservation lands Native Americans could no longer fish for salmon and other fish. 

This eliminated fish protein and vitamin D from their diet.

This most likely made them very ill.....and is still making them very ill.

Beyond fortified milk and fish the only other source of vitamin D is through exposure to sunlight which triggers human skin to produce vitamin D, which is actually a hormone.

Today in the year 2009 most Native Americans still live on these same desolate Indian reservations and have not reincorporated fish in their diet, and like most other Americans they do not get outside much where they would be exposed to sunlight to get adequate vitamin D levels in their bodies, but spend a lot of time indoors watching television, surfing the internet and playing video games etc.

This is making Native Americans extremely ill. There is an epidemic of diabetes and other debilitating diseases linked to severe and chronic vitamin D deficiency.

Although many health professionals are aware of this lactose intolerance in Native Americans and it's link to severe vitamin D deficiency, very few Native Americans are aware of it or even know that they are vitamin D deficient.

There is very little or no effort whatsoever to inform Native Americans of this silent epidemic.

The unemployment rate on most American Indian reservations is around 80% because of the remote location of indian reservations and the lack of transportation th get to job centers.

There needs to be a massive education campaign by the American government as well as among Native American groups to combat this lack of information concerning vitamin D deficiency to combat epidemic deficiencies and disease on American Indian reservations.

We the undersigned agree with the sentiments of the author of this petition and request that the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services address this epidemic through an education campaign on U.S. Indian reservations to enable Native American tribes to work on solutions to this problem.

E-mail the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs at:  

feedback@bia.gov

or contact the following individuals at the U.S Dept. of Indian Health: (I.H.S.)

Dr. Bryan Wooden/ Deputy Director
U.S. Dept. of Indian Health Services: 

Brian.Wooden@ihs.gov

Dr. James Berryhill
U.S. Dept. of Indian Health Services: 

Michael.Berryhill@ihs.gov 

or write to:

Health EducationIndian Health Services
Parkland Building. Rm. 6A-205600
Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD.  20857