Transitioning food environments and diets of African migrants: Implications for non-communicable diseases

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) disproportionately affect African migrants from sub-Saharan Africa living in high-income countries. Evidence suggests this is largely driven by forces that include migration, globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles (poor diet, physical inactivity and smoking), unhealthy food environments, socioeconomic status and population ageing. Changes in lifestyle behaviours that accompany migration are exemplified primarily by shifts in dietary behaviours from more traditional diets to a diet that incorporates that of the host culture, which promotes the development of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. This paper presents a critical analysis of dietary change and how this is influenced by the food environment and the socioeconomic context following migration. We used a food systems framework(1) to structure the discussion of the interaction of factors across the food system that shape food environments and subsequent dietary changes among African migrant populations living in high-income countries.