Abstract
Previous studies have shown the prevalence of overweight and obesity to be higher in foreign-born populations than their native counterparts. This study aimed at assessing the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin populations in Finland in comparison with the general population, and determining which background factors associate with overweight and obesity. Data from the Finnish Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study (Maamu) were used. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was as high as 73% in Somali and 65% in Kurdish origin women. In contrast, Somali origin men had a significantly lower prevalence of overweight and obesity than men in the general population. Health promotion measures must be addressed towards decreasing the prevalence of overweight and obesity particularly among Somali and Kurdish origin women. Foreign-born people need to be taken into account when planning and implementing obesity prevention programs.
Highlights
The alarming increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the last decades has made them a global public health problem that threatens peoples’ health and wellbeing universally (Caballero 2007; Flegal et al 2012; Groves 2006)
Some studies emphasise that acculturation plays a key role in explaining why migrants living in high-income countries have a high prevalence of overweight and obesity
The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among persons of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin in Finland in comparison to the general Finnish population and to determine which socio-demographic and lifestyle factors are associated with overweight and obesity in the studied groups
Summary
The alarming increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the last decades has made them a global public health problem that threatens peoples’ health and wellbeing universally (Caballero 2007; Flegal et al 2012; Groves 2006). Several studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity tends to be higher among migrant origin populations than the general population in the country of migration (Gele and Mbalilaki 2013; Oza-Frank and Cunningham 2010; Sussner et al 2008). Previous studies indicate that prevalence of overweight and obesity among migrants increases with longer length of stay in the host country (Ro and Bostean 2015; Singh et al 2011). A change from a traditional diet to a more industrial one, accompanied with decreased energy expenditure due to the urbanization, have been suggested to be the contributing factors to the observed high prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among migrant origin populations (Toselli et al 2014). Toselli et al noted that migrants’ disease patterns change rapidly after migration and become similar to the disease pattern of the inhabitants of the host country
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