Beating the food trap
Bhutanese couple Umesh and Dil Maya Majhi spent 22 years in a refugee camp in Nepal before settling in New Zealand four years ago.
Their diet in Nepal consisted of rice and curry. The family had never eaten pizza or hamburgers, they could not afford fruit juice or soft drinks and they had never been shopping in a supermarket.
But after they moved to Nelson, Dil’s weight rose from 45 kilograms to more than 80 kilograms.
Youngest son, 4-year-old Arin had six teeth extracted due to decay.
The couple have learnt to speak English since arriving in New Zealand, but at times they struggle with the language barrier. Now they are a success story, having taken part in a programme to address the rising rates of obesity and diabetes in the refugee community.
Since taking part in the Nelson Bays Primary Health and Red Cross initiative, the family eat smaller portions of rice with more vegetables and lean meats. They snack on fruit and drink milk and water instead of fruit juice.
Dil now eats smaller meals throughout the day instead of one large meal at the end of the day. She no longer drinks energy drinks and has lost more than 10 kilograms in the past few months.
The cupboards in the Majhi family kitchen are covered with posters that illustrate healthy meal ideas and how much sugar is in different drinks.
Refugees spend their first six weeks in the country at Immigration New Zealand’s Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland where they take part in a reception programme that prepares them to live and work in the community.
Immigration New Zealand national manager refugee division Andrew Lockhart said healthy eating was addressed through the Early Childhood and Resettlement programmes. In particular, Auckland University of Technology staff discussed healthy lunch boxes with refugees.
However, Red Cross client services team leader Barbara Whitaker said she had noticed a slow, but considerable weight gain among former refugees who had been in Nelson for several years. In some cases they had gained between 10 and 20 kilograms.
Nelson Bays Primary Health promotion manager Glenis Bell said that was reflected in the numbers of Burmese and Bhutanese that were being diagnosed with pre-diabetes during GP checks.
Whitaker and Bell discussed the issue which led Nelson Bays Primary Health to develop the Healthy Living Project using existing resources. More than 30 Bhutanese and Burmese families have participated in the programme since it began in February.
The programme involves home visits to discuss eating habits then a follow up a month later.
Families are taught about a balanced diet and the impacts of consuming sugar. Parents are accompanied on a supermarket shopping trip as many are still learning to speak English.
Whitaker said the success of the programme was in that it is delivered by former refugee resettlement caseworkers who had been trained by dieticians, which meant the messages were passed on by members of their own community.
She said there was scope for it to be applied in other regions where refugees had settled.
Bell said the change was enormous for those who came to New Zealand after living in refugee camps for decades where food was rationed. ‘‘It is just so different to then come here, to the land of plenty,’’ she said.
The programme was centred around healthy living and prevention, rather than focusing on disease. ‘‘Diabetes can be quite complicated for someone who has just settled into this country.
They are trying to get to grips with all of the changes that resettlement requires.’’
It was an example of the community working together to create and implement solutions, she said.