Abstract
Food insecurity is widespread among asylum seekers resettled in Western countries. Limited information exists on the quality of food intake in this population. The aim of this study was to investigate dietary quality among asylum seekers living in Norwegian reception centers. This study has a cross-sectional research design. Dietary intake was assessed through a qualitative 24-hour dietary recall, and the dietary diversity score (DDS) was calculated. This study was conducted in eight Norwegian reception centers. A total of 205 adult asylum seekers (131 men and 74 women) participated in the study. The asylum seekers ate on average two meals per day, and one-third ate their first meal after noon. Mean (SD) DDS was 4.0 (1.6) and 2/3 had low dietary diversity, eating from fewer than five food groups. Women had a significantly higher mean DDS (4.5) than men (3.8) (β (95% CI): 0.47 (0.00, 0.95) and a higher consumption of vegetables and fruits. The longer the period of residence in Norway, the higher the DDS, β (95% CI): 0.01 (0.00, 0.02). The asylum seekers’ inadequate dietary intake reveals new forms of poverty and social exclusion in Europe. An inadequate dietary intake may increase the magnitude of difficulty involved in the settlement process and contribute to poorer health.
Highlights
IntroductionRefugees, and asylum seekers living in Western countries is widespread and regarded as a serious problem [1,2,3,4]
Poor nutrition among immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in Western countries is widespread and regarded as a serious problem [1,2,3,4]
Our study shows that two-thirds of the asylum seekers had a low dietary diversity as they were eating from fewer than five food groups
Summary
Refugees, and asylum seekers living in Western countries is widespread and regarded as a serious problem [1,2,3,4]. Inadequate dietary intake may have serious implications on health, such as impaired work capacity, nutrient deficiency diseases, and an increased risk of pregnancy-related complications in women [5,6,7]. Existing studies on the health status of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe have stated that they are at risk of suffering a decline in health because of poor housing arrangements and inadequate dietary intakes [4,13,14]. Most studies investigating the dietary intakes of asylum seekers in Western countries have focused on food security. Food insecurity is a key indicator for evaluating contextual aspects related to food consumption (e.g., accessibility to nutritious food, uncertainty about food provision, etc.) and Nutrients 2019, 11, 2293; doi:10.3390/nu11102293 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
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