Researchers: Dr Jake Parker, Dr Carole Reeve (Kimberley Public Health Unit)
Funding:
Project summary: Nutrition-related illness remains a significant contributor to preventable disease in Indigenous Australians. It has been shown that many Indigenous people don’t consume the daily recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. Eating behaviours in remote areas such as the Kimberley are influenced by a myriad of factors including food security, where access and availability plays an important role. Nutrient deficiencies, particularly during childhood, are associated with iron-deficiency anaemia, middle ear disease and skin disease. These conditions can result in long-term ill health such as hearing loss, growth delay, learning difficulties, and rheumatic heart disease and others.
In response, many initiatives have sought to improve the nutrient intake of people living in remote communities. Many of these have sourced and imported fruit and vegetables from other regions. The EON foundation has run their ‘Edible Gardens’ and ‘Healthy Eating’ programs in several Kimberley communities which aims to establish a community-run school-based garden and run nutrition education programs for school aged children. They have worked with the Noonkanbah community with these two programs since 2009.
This data review aims to retrospectively show any health impacts of nutrition-related diseases in 5-9 year old children following the implementation of these two programs. It will utilise data regarding the diagnoses of anaemia, middle ear disease and skin infections from Communicare (community electronic health record) from 2009 to 2012. Trends will be charted against key milestones in the nutrition programs as well as identified potential confounders.
Progress: Completed