Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project

Eloise Le Compte Community Dietitian

NSW Refugee Health Service www.refugeehealth.org.au

eloise.lecompte@sswahs.nsw.gov.au 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