Are Australian immigrants at a risk of being physically inactive?

Abstract

BackgroundWe examined whether physical activity risk differed between migrant sub-groups and the Australian-born population.MethodsData were drawn from the Australian National Health Survey (2001) and each resident's country of birth was classified into one of 13 regions. Data were gathered on each resident's physical activity level in the fortnight preceding the survey. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders examined the risk of physical inactivity of participants from each of the 13 regions compared to the Australian-born population.ResultsThere was a greater prevalence of physical inactivity for female immigrants from most regions compared to male immigrants from a like region. Immigrants from South East Asia (OR 2.04% 95% CI 1.63, 2.56), Other Asia (OR 1.53 95% CI 1.10, 2.13), Other Oceania (1.81 95% CI 1.11, 2.95), the Middle East (OR 1.42 95% CI 0.97, 2.06 [note: border line significance]) and Southern & Eastern Europe are at a significantly higher risk of being physically inactive compared to those born in Australian. In contrast, immigrants from New Zealand (OR 0.77 95% CI 0.62, 0.94), the UK & Ireland (OR 0.82 95% CI 0.73, 0.92), and other Africa (OR 0.69 95% CI 0.51, 0.94) are at a significantly lower risk of being physically inactive compared to the Australian born population.ConclusionFuture research identifying potential barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity will inform culturally sensitive physical activity programs that aim to encourage members of specific regional ethnic sub-groups to undertake physical activity.

Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviours in African Migrant Women Living in High Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Framework Synthesis

“…There were ten quantitative [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ] ( n = 9 cross-sectional and n = 1 longitudinal) and four qualitative [ 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ] studies ( n = 3 focus group discussions, n = 1 interview). Most of the studies were conducted in European countries ( n = 2 each in Italy [ 42 , 43 ] and Spain [ 48 , 50 ]; n = 1 each in England [ 46 ], Ireland [ 44 ], the Netherlands [ 54 ], Norway [ 53 ], Sweden [ 51 ], and France [ 49 ]); two in Australia [ 41 , 47 ] and one each in Canada [ 52 ] and Israel [ 45 ]. Two main population groups were included in the studies: women from North and North-East African countries including Morocco, Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Algeria, and Eritrea; and women from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, Niger, Mali, and Senegal.…”

“…Eight studies reported how long the women had lived in HICs, which ranged between 2–35 years. Twelve studies included only African populations [ 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ], while two [ 42 , 46 ] included women from other ethnic groups living in the same HIC for comparison. Quality assessment of the studies found eight “good” quality studies and six of “fair” quality; no included studies were deemed to be poor quality.…”

“…Five studies [ 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 50 ] reported PA behaviours in women of childbearing age ( Table 5 ); there were no studies in pregnant women. Two studies included North and North East African women living in Australia and Israel; two included women from West and SSA living in Spain and Italy; and one did not specify the region of origin of the African women living in England.…”

Improving access to health information for older migrants by using grounded theory and social network analysis to understand their information behaviour and digital technology use

“…Migrant health and well-being can be strongly influenced by the process of migration, which includes changes to established information networks and sources (Hameed et al 2013). In Australia, older Greek and Italian migrants under-use health services (Marino et al 2005), despite their higher prevalence of certain chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes (Holdenson et al 2003;Hodge et al 2004;Dassanayake et al 2011). As many migrants are 'ageing in place' (i.e.…”

Impact of socioeconomic and risk factors on cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes in Australia: comparison of results from longitudinal and cross-sectional designs

“…Additionally, the finding suggests that immigrants with a non-English speaking background have a higher risk of developing both CVD and type II diabetes than Australian-born respondents, a finding consistent with some of the earlier research on Australian immigrants. 41 42 …”