Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project
Eloise Le Compte Community Dietitian
NSW Refugee Health Service www.refugeehealth.org.au
[email protected] 02 8778 0770
Overview
• Food security among refugees
• Nutritional issues among refugees
• The Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project
• Future direction
Who is a Refugee
Refugee - Article 1A, 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees
A person who is outside their country of nationality, unable or unwilling to return owing to a fear of being persecuted for reasons of: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion
Refugees & Food Insecurity
Community setting • Unsafe conditions prevent
access to food
• No support from relief agencies
• Limited/no access to paid work
Camp setting • Arrive nutrient deplete
• Solely rely on food rations
• Focus: prevent starvation & protein- energy malnutrition
• Often micronutrient deficiencies
Refugees & Food Insecurity
• Language barrier • Experience racism and discrimination • Higher rates of unemployment • Often in poorly paid jobs • Large number reliant on welfare payments • Sending money home • Adjusting to a different food system • Initial settlement set up costs • Poor access to healthcare pre arrival • Psychological trauma
Effects of Food Insecurity
• Increasing family tension, stress and disrupts family dynamics
• Intensifies their sense of powerlessness, exclusion and isolation
• Erosion of the transfer of knowledge and practices around food, which can add to a loss of identity
• Increase the magnitude of difficulty involved in the settlement process
Nutritional Issues
• Chronic malnutrition
• Micronutrient deficiencies • Vitamin D
• Calcium
• Iron
• Iodine
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B12
• Obesity and related
chronic diseases
Nutritional Issues
Food Insecurity & Refugees
• Needs Assessment 2007 • Refugees in Fairfield up to 16 x more likely to be food insecure than the Australian population
(Southcombe 2007)
» 68% African » 6% Middle Eastern
• 71% food insecure (Gallegos et al., 2008)
• Perth, Australia • Consistent amongst all places of birth
• 73% food insecure and 22% child hunger(Hanley & Sellen 2006)
• Sudanese refugees in Atlanta, USA
• 100% food insecure and 60 % child hunger (Sellen et al., 2008)
• London, UK • Small sample
Response to Research
• Funded by DSS through Communities for Children (C4C) Initiative
– The Smith Family Facilitating Partner
– Children 0-12 yr and their families
– Fairfield
• Delivered by NSW Refugee Health Service
Demographics of Fairfield LGA
• 55% (33% nationally) population born overseas
• 16% both parents born in Australia
• 76% both parents born overseas
• 67.9% (20.4% nationally) spoke 2 or more languages
• Is the largest settlements area (5107 of 22,256 settlements) in NSW for humanitarian arrivals (Jan 09’ – Dec 13’)
Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project
Goal: • Reduce food insecurity amongst refugee families with
children aged 0-12years residing in Fairfield Objectives:
• Increase the knowledge of refugee families to access healthy foods
• Increase the capacity of refugee families to access healthy foods
• Assist the community, health workers and settlement service staff to address nutrition and food insecurity issues
Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project
• Nutrition education • Nutrition education course
» 8 week course for parents
• Kids in the Kitchen » healthy cooking, physical activity, and gardening school holiday program
• Unique to the programs • BCE model • Flexible content • Culturally sensitive • Social inclusion
• Advocacy
Nutrition Education Courses
Future Direction
• Continue process evaluation
• Conduct impact evaluation
• Secure funding to expand program beyond Fairfield