Immigration and food insecurity: social and nutritional issues for recent immigrants in Montreal, Canada

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to measure changes in food habits of first‐generation immigrants in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), as well as their self‐declared state of health and physical activity level. A subset of the sample was found to be in a state of food insecurity (FI).Design/methodology/approachA supervised questionnaire was administered to 506 adult allophone immigrants attending French‐language courses, autumn 2011. A FI indicator was developed and applied to this sample. The authors discuss the concept of FI and issues about measurements of FI.FindingsIn total, 10 per cent of the sample was found to suffer from FI, which has a negative impact on fruit, vegetables, dairy product, fish and red meat consumption, and diet quality in general. FI shows a positive correlation with changes in state of health and lifestyle and the development of chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Results also show that certain groups are more at risk, that FI prevalence decreases with the years of residence and that FI is a deep source of anxiety.Originality/valueFI should be monitored in a more systematic manner in recent immigrant populations and be specifically addressed in immigrant integration policies. The authors also stress that problems occurring because of FI are rooted in the incapacity and the failure of the social programs to protect very low income families from harmful consequences of poverty.

Immigration, ethnicity, and avoidable mortality in Canada, 1991–2006

“…Similar findings have been reported for general all-cause mortality in Canada (Omariba, Ng, and Vissandjée 2014). Nonetheless, although it is not clear what the underlying mechanisms are, it is possible that birthplace and ethnicity capture unobserved differences in prenatal, neonatal, and early childhood care, childhood environmental factors, cultural differences in diets, and differences in social and cultural attitudes to health behavior and health service use (Girard and Sercia 2013;McDonald and Kennedy 2004;Rosenmöller et al 2011). It could also be a reflection of selection effects of Canadian immigration policies.…”

Differences between immigrants at various durations of residence and host population in all-cause mortality, Canada 1991–2006

“…These factors, however, only explain some of the immigrant mortality advantage. The substantial part that remains unexplained may be due to unobservable factors (e.g., genetic disposition to diseases) or unmeasured factors such as cultural differences in diets (Rosenmöller et al 2011;Hassan and Hekmat 2012;Girard and Sercia 2013) and health-related behaviours. For example, compared to non-immigrants, Canadian immigrants have lower rates of smoking (McDonald 2006;Newbold and Neligan 2012) and alcohol consumption (Beiser 2005;Veldhuizen et al 2007), both of which are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer.…”

Associations between dietary factors and urinary concentrations of organophosphate and pyrethroid metabolites in a Canadian general population

“…In addition, our analyses showed that immigrants had significantly greater concentrations of both DAP and PYR. Studies of Canadian immigrants have suggested that linguistic barriers, lack of information on specific food (ethnic, organic), and limited information on resources of nutritional and organic food may lead to higher levels of OP and PYR metabolites among immigrants (Girard and Sercia, 2013;Vahabi and Damba, 2013).…”