Abstract
Background: Food security refers to an individual’s, household’s, or community’s capacity to access nutritious, sustainable, affordable, and culturally appropriate foods. Food security is vital for every person; however, some experience greater difficulty in securing it. The burden of food insecurity remains a public health challenge even in high-income countries, such as Australia, especially among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) or disadvantaged communities. Disadvantaged groups in High-income Countries (HICs) often include Indigenous minority populations, and in Australia, this encompasses urban and regional, rural and especially remote Indigenous communities; however, these are not the topic of this thesis, and lengthy consideration of such is beyond its scope. While research has been undertaken among several migrant communities in Australia, there is a knowledge gap on food security within some ethnic minorities such as migrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Moreover, there is a dearth of evidence on the understanding of food labels and their influence on food security, especially among such communities. This thesis seeks to address these identified research gaps.Purpose: The overall aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of Libyan migrant and refugee families in Australia regarding food security and their food label comprehension. It also aimed to explore the factors that influence their experience of food security and their understanding of food labelling. It also sought to determine whether, and if so to what extent, there is an association between food label comprehension and food security.
Methods: This thesis includes a series of published papers. The first publication is a systematic review of existing literature (Paper 1, presented in Chapter 3) and the remaining three papers present the quantitative and qualitative results of this research (Papers 2, 3 and 4, presented in Chapters 5, 6 and 7, respectively). The second and third papers present the results of a quantitative study on food security and food labelling. This adopted a cross-sectional design and utilised an online survey to collect quantitative data. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 271 participants, each of whom was the primary food purchaser from a family who had migrated from Libya to Australia.
Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into food security among Libyan migrants/refugees in Australia. Food insecurity among Libyan migrant/refugees is prevalent in Australia and is linked to a variety of factors. Despite the population’s high educational status and food labelling comprehension, food insecurity remained an issue among these Libyan migrants/refugees. Policymakers should consider the incorporation of measures to address food label comprehension within a broader food security approach for migrants. It is important that health and social welfare providers consider ways of alleviating food insecurity among Libyan migrants/refugees so that they can live a healthy life in Australia. The outcomes of this study will help to expand the depth and breadth of food security research among vulnerable population groups. Further research involving migrant groups can ensure evidence-based approaches are adopted to address the food security issues uncovered in this research.
| Date of Award | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisor | Amit Arora (Supervisor) |