Exploring Barriers to Food Security Among Immigrants: A Critical Role for Public Health Nutrition

Author(s):  
Clare E. Ramsahoi ◽  
Sasha S. Sonny ◽  
Jennifer M. Monk

Upon moving to a new country and new food environment, 2 important public health issues may be experienced by immigrants as they adapt to their new country of residence, namely a higher prevalence of food insecurity and/or a decline in overall health over time postimmigration. Therefore, improving the food environment experienced by new migrants may be an effective strategy to reduce long-term health complications and improve well-being postimmigration. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential barriers experienced by new immigrants in the access, availability, and utilization of familiar culturally appropriate foods and the subsequent impact on their food security status. Culturally appropriate foods are foods commonly consumed as part of cultural food traditions and are often staples within the diet; however, limited availability of and/or access to these foods can reduce food security. By understanding the barriers to food security and challenges that may be faced by immigrants and refugees, dietitians will be better equipped to assist these individuals in accessing culturally familiar foods and improve quality of life. In this capacity, dietitians can play a critical public health nutrition role by serving as a conduit for new immigrants to access community resources and navigate a new food environment.

Sustainability and nutrition 380 Sustainable development 382 Food security 383 Climate change and obesity 384 Useful websites and further reading 388 The public health nutrition field has identified a need to encompass the inter-relationship of man with his environment (The Giessen Declaration, 2005). Ecological public health nutrition places nutrition within its wider structural settings including the political, physical, socio-cultural and economic environment that influence individual behaviour and health. As a consequence, it includes the impact of what is eaten on the natural environment as well as the impact of environmental and climate change on all components of food security, i.e. on what food is available, accessible, utilizable and stable (...


Author(s):  
Nor Syaza Sofiah Ahmad ◽  
Norhasmah Sulaiman ◽  
Mohamad Fazli Sabri

Food insecurity is a growing concern among university students. The high prevalence of food insecurity is a threat to students’ health and success. Therefore, this study aims to determine an association between food security status, psychosocial factors, and academic performance among university students. A total of 663 undergraduate students in seven randomly selected faculties in Universiti Putra Malaysia participated in this study. An online survey was conducted to obtain demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, food security status (six-item USDA; food security survey module, FSSM), psychosocial factors (depression, anxiety and stress scale, DASS-21) and academic performance. Among the abovementioned participating students, 32.4% are male. About 62.8% reported to have experienced food insecurity. Binary logistic regression revealed that students whose fathers were working (AOR = 6.446, 95% CI: 1.22, 34.01) came from low- (AOR = 14.314, 95% CI: 1.565, 130.954) and middle-income groups (AOR = 15.687, 95% CI: 1.720, 143.092), and those receiving financial aid (AOR = 2.811, 95% CI: 1.602, 4.932) were associated with food insecurity. Additionally, food insecurity students were less-likely reported, with CGPA ≥ 3.7 (AOR = 0.363, 95% CI: 1.22–34.014). Food insecurity respondents had higher odds for stress (AOR = 1.562, 95% CI: 1.111, 2.192), anxiety (AOR = 3.046, 95% CI: 2.090, 4.441), and depression (AOR = 2.935, 95% CI: 2.074, 4.151). The higher institutions should identify students with food insecurity problems and future intervention programs need to be conducted to combat food insecurity among students, thus yielding benefits to their health and success.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  

Abstract Background Despite the complexities of modern healthcare it remains the case that human behaviour plays a critical role in health outcomes and in the efficacy of most treatments. We know that people get sick because of unhealthy behaviours. We know that the success of most healthcare interventions is highly dependent on patients’ willingness to adhere to self-care activities such as taking medications or performing self-examinations. Over the last decades well-validated, cost-effective behavioural medicine interventions have been developed. The field has contributed to strategies in health education, with techniques for modifying behaviour, and enhancing motivation and learning for health. More recently, multilevel intervention models, including environmental and policy variables, are being increasingly proposed and tested. Yet, for several reasons, only few such interventions have been translated into policy recommendations or implemented successfully in clinical practice. Through highlighting critical gaps in knowledge translation that can be addressed by integrating modern theoretical and methodological approaches across disciplines we hope to contribute to the development of effective and implementable behaviour change interventions for optimal population and individual health and well-being. Aim The aim of this workshop is to broaden our understanding of measures that have originated from behavioural sciences and have a lot to offer to public health. This workshop also seeks to contribute to capacity building in knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision-making in public health. Workshop structure The workshop will consist of five presentations providing an overview of topical issues in the field of behaviour change and knowledge translation, followed by an interactive audience discussion. The first presentations will introduce the most recent challenges in knowledge translation from the WHO/Europe perspective. The second presentation will discuss the possibilities of using behaviour change principles in the development and adoption of health policies showcasing the Canada’s newly adopted Food Guide. The third presentation will highlight the challenges in tackling physician’s ability to effectively conduct behaviour change counselling with their patients in the context of chronic disease prevention. The fourth presentation will make the link between the knowledge translation theory and practice, using the Behaviour Change Wheel theory. The fifth presentation will introduce the free academic meta-search engine - Motrial, which has a great potential in evaluating the randomized controlled trials and fuelling meta-analyses and systematic reviews in return of better quality. Further to the reflexion on the current knowledge base, an audience discussion will give attendees the opportunity to share their opinions regarding challenges and opportunities in knowledge translation to improve people’s health and well-being. Key messages Policy development and adoption can be considered as a behaviour change process. The application of behaviour change principles to the policy process may lead to greater stakeholder engagement and faster policy implementation.


Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Curl ◽  
Lisa Meierotto ◽  
Rebecca L. Som Castellano

The aim of this study was to identify social, cultural and workplace-related risk factors affecting well-being among Latina farmworkers in rural Idaho. We recruited 70 Latina farmworkers from southwestern Idaho in 2019. We employed an inter-disciplinary, mixed-methods approach—including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and pesticide biomonitoring—to characterize multiple domains that influence well-being, including food security and access, housing conditions, social supports, access to medical care, and workplace safety. Six major themes emerged as primary challenges to Latina farmworkers’ well-being. In the public sphere, study participants identified these challenges as long working hours, concerns regarding pesticide exposure, and lack of enforcement of regulatory protections. Participants’ concerns regarding pesticide exposure were underscored by biological sampling results; multiple biomarkers of pesticide exposure were detected in all samples, with the highest concentrations measured in samples collected from women who reported mixing, loading or applying pesticides. Within the private sphere, food security and provisioning, childcare responsibilities, and social isolation were identified as significant challenges to well-being. Gender, ethnicity, and geography emerged as important, intersecting statuses that shaped the life experiences of these agricultural workers. Our findings suggest that gender may play a particularly critical role in the unique challenges facing Latina farmworkers. As a result, the services and regulations needed to support well-being in this population may be highly specific, and almost certainly include attention to work–family dynamics, pesticide exposure, and social connections.


2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 2632-2646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanli de Beer ◽  
Annchen Mielmann ◽  
Lizelle Coetzee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the acceptability of an identified staple product enriched with amaranth grain, a traditionally used wild plant familiar to most of the population, after households’ food security status revealed that the majority of them were either at risk or food insecure. Design/methodology/approach A two-phase non-experimental, quantitative survey design with purposive sampling was used to explore the variety of foods consumed and the food security status of lower skilled (n=63) and higher skilled (n=81) income-earning households. During the second phase, recipe development and sensory acceptance of bread enriched with grain amaranth (n=91) were determined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Findings Food insecurity was evident among the majority of the lower skilled income households while nearly one in four households in both groups were at risk to become insecure. Daily consumption of chicken and maize meal was evident in lower income households while the frequency in higher income households were significantly less. Bread was found to be the most consumed food product among all households (p=0.001; r=0.455). Supplementation of wheat flour with amaranth flour, a nutritious traditionally familiar wild plant, to support households’ food consumption was investigated. Results from sensory evaluation panels revealed that both bread samples with different percentage of amaranth flour (15 and 25 per cent) were acceptable. Originality/value The most important contribution of this study is the re-introduction and incorporation of a traditional food, amaranth, into a modern frequently consumed food to support households’ nutritional and monetary demands to ultimately contribute to general well-being and household food security.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L E Torheim ◽  
A L Løvhaug ◽  
S Henjum ◽  
L Terragni ◽  
G Roos

Abstract Background Obesity prevalence in Norway has increased over the past decades despite political objectives and strategies for obesity prevention. Healthy food environments have the potential to improve the diet of the population and decrease the burden of disease. Governments play a critical role to form such environments. The aim of the study was to assess the efforts of the Norwegian Government towards creating healthier food environments and suggest actions using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) methodology. Methods Evidence of policy implementation was assembled and verified by government stakeholders for 45 good practice indicators across 12 policy and infrastructure support domains. Independent public health nutrition experts from academia and civil society (n = 34) assessed the level of implementation of each indicator compared with international best practices, using an online tool. Results Most indicators were rated at “medium” level of implementation (51%). An almost equal number of indicators were rated at “high” and “low” level of implementation (21% and 28%, respectively). None of the indicators were rated as “very low, if any” level of implementation. More indicators under the infrastructure domain were rated at “high” or “medium” as compared with the policy domain. The expert panel developed a list of priority actions that should be implemented to improve the food environment, including actions regarded as most effective in decreasing social inequalities in diet. The top priority action was that the Government should to a larger extent use price and taxes to change food consumption. Conclusions The Food-EPI framework and process can be used to identify gaps in national policy implementation and to develop recommendations for strengthened policy action supported by a coalition of public health experts.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyson Ang ◽  
Shuqin Wei ◽  
Denni Arli

PurposeIn responding to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, drastic public health measures such as social distancing and lockdowns have been implemented across the globe to slow the spread of the virus. In the USA, the public's reaction to social distancing has been mixed, evident in a high number of people flocking to beaches, bars and shops as coronavirus cases soar. Public health officials have issued strong warnings about the danger people face but the problem persists. To fill this gap, informed by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research explores why many people refuse to practice social distancing.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the first study, a sample of 750 respondents was recruited from a US online consumer panel to complete a structured survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. In the second study, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to 50 US online participants to further uncover people's in-depth perceptions and perspectives toward the pandemic and social distancing. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results from the first study show that risk-taking attitude, authoritarianism and subjective norm are significant predictors of social distancing intention and behavior, through perceived severity of COVID-19. Four themes emerged from the second study, which are consistent with the proposed conceptual framework in the first study.Originality/valueTheoretically, the authors’ findings first contribute to the emerging marketing literature that focuses on creating sustained positive changes and improving the well-being of consumers, communities and societies. Secondly, their findings corroborate with previous findings documented in the social influence literature by showing that during the times of uncertainty and confusion such as COVID-19, social norms (not forced by laws and regulations) play the most critical role in influencing a voluntary, socially beneficial behavior (such as social distancing). Third, this study extends the application of the TPB into the realm of social distancing behavior. The three main components of the TPB, namely attitude, behavioral control and subjective norm, are shown to predict social distancing behavior. Practically, the results of this research have important implications for public health policies on how to encourage positive public health behavior amid pandemics such as COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adane Tesfaye ◽  
Andnet Tadesse Wete ◽  
Belay Negassa ◽  
Yawkal Chane ◽  
Tekle Ejajo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundUnderweight is one of the public health problems in Ethiopia. Underweight children had lower resistance to diseases, lower school performance, and poor quality of life. In Ethiopia, most of the available evidences are related to the general community children, which had different risks and severity level than orphan children. Even though under-five orphan children had a higher risk of underweight, they are the most neglected population. Therefore, the aim of the study to determine the burden and predictors of underweight among preschool orphan children in Dilla Town, Southern Ethiopia.MethodA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 367 orphans from December 5, 2017 to January 30, 2018. The survey data were entered into EPi-info version 3.5.4 software and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. The burden of underweight was assessed by calculating the percentages using ENA SMART software was used for anthropometric data management using WHO standard cutoff point below-2 S.D using z-scores. All variables with a p-value of < 0.25 during bivariate logistic regression analysis were entered into a multivariate analysis to identify predictors variables independently associated with underweight at a p-value of 0.05 with 95% CI.ResultsIn this study, the burden of underweight among orphan children was 27.4%. The main predictors of underweight were sex of child (AOR = 5.29, 95% CI (2.83-9.92)), type of first complementary food (AOR = 2.47; 95% CI (1.24-4.94)), household food security (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI (1.23-3.21)) and age of child (AOR = 7.19; 95% CI (3.81-13.60)).ConclusionUnderweight is a public health problem in the study area. Sex of a child, type of first complimentary food, household food security status, and child age were the predictors of underweight. Therefore, dietary appropriate intervention, nutrition education of mothers, and increase food security status of orphan children are highly recommended.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Garton ◽  
Boyd Swinburn ◽  
Anne Marie Thow

Abstract Background Regulation of food environments is needed to address the global challenge of poor nutrition, yet policy inertia has been a problem. A common argument against regulation is potential conflict with binding commitments under international trade and investment agreements (TIAs). This study aimed to identify which actors and institutions, in different contexts, influence how TIAs are used to constrain policy space for improving food environments, and to describe their core beliefs, interests, resources and strategies, with the objective of informing strategic global action to preserve nutrition policy space. Methods We conducted a global stakeholder analysis applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework, based on existing academic literature and key informant interviews with international experts in trade and investment law and public health nutrition policy. Results We identified 12 types of actors who influence policy space in the food environment policy subsystem, relevant to TIAs. These actors hold various beliefs regarding the economic policy paradigm, the nature of obesity and dietary diseases as health problems, the role of government, and the role of industry in solving the health problem. We identified two primary competing coalitions: 1) a ‘public health nutrition’ coalition, which is overall supportive of and actively working to enact comprehensive food environment regulation; and 2) an ‘industry and economic growth’ focussed coalition, which places a higher priority on deregulation and is overall not supportive of comprehensive food environment regulation. The industry and economic growth coalition appears to be dominant, based on its relative power, resources and coordination. However, the public health nutrition coalition maintains influence through individual activism, collective lobbying and government pressure (e.g. by civil society), and expert knowledge generation. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that industry and economic growth-focussed coalitions are highly capable of leveraging networks, institutional structures and ideologies to their advantage, and are a formidable source of opposition acting to constrain nutrition policy space globally, including through TIAs. Opportunities for global public health nutrition coalitions to strengthen their influence in the support of nutrition policy space include strategic evidence generation and coalition-building through broader engagement and capacity-building.


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