Diet and physical activity among women who migrated from Africa to high-income countries
Citation: Ngongalah L, Rankin J, Rapley T, et al. Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviours in African Migrant Women Living in High Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Framework Synthesis. Nutrients. 2018;10(8):1017.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported that they had no external funding for this review.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for primary research studies on dietary and physical activity among pregnant women and women of childbearing age who migrated from Africa to high-income countries (HICs). They searched in February 2018 for articles published in English since 1990. The authors included 14 studies, 10 quantitative and 4 qualitative, from Australia (2), Canada (1), England (1), France (1), Ireland (1), Israel (1), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), Norway (1), Spain (2), and Sweden (1). This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017057562.
What was found? The authors found deficiencies in micronutrients, such as folate, calcium, and iron, that can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Additionally, high sodium intake may increase the risk of pregnancy complications. Dietary patterns were bicultural. No participants changed completely from their traditional diet to HIC diets. Findings on physical activity were conflicting, however, reported levels were generally low. Behaviours were influenced by beliefs, post-migration environments, culture, religion, and local food.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that their findings highlighted the need for culturally sensitive approaches to understand the role of post-migration acculturation on diet and physical activity. They suggested that future studies focus on sociodemographic and other migration-related factors associated with diet and physical activity.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, race, ethnicity, culture, language, occupation, gender, sex, religion, education, and socioeconomic status.
This summary was prepared by Eszter Szocs, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskill.