Knowledge of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in West African Refugee Women Living in Western Australia

As obesity and cardiovascular disease are elevated in refugees who have migrated recently to Western countries, barriers to healthy eating and exercise were investigated in West African women who had entered Australia recently as refugees. Questionnaires on diet and exercise were administered to convenience samples of 51 West African women and 100 Australian women. Eighty percent of the West African women were overweight or obese compared with 49% of Australian women. The West African women were less clear about nutritional guidelines and had more misconceptions about exercise than the Australian women. BMI increased with age in both groups, and increased with fewer years at school and the number of internal barriers to exercise in Australian women. Dietary changes, limited nutritional knowledge of Western foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and barriers to participating in physical activity programmes may increase vulnerability to obesity and cardiovascular disease in West African women who have entered Australia recently as refugees.