Nutrition and health among immigrant infants and children

The project "Nutrition and health among immigrant infants and children" (InnBaKost) is a longitudinal nutrition study which includes children whose mothers have immigrated to Norway from Somalia and Iraq. The study has a quantitative and a qualitative subcomponent. The quantitative sub-study aims to assess the children's intake of foods and nutrients. The qualitative sub-study consists of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with children's mothers about the food they give to the children, and about what kind of health information they receive both from the public health clinic and from their social networks. In both sub-studies mothers have been interviewed when their children were 6, 12 and 24 months. In addition, public health nurses have been interviewed about their experiences of supervising mothers with immigrant background. In Norway, children with immigrant background have not been included in the national dietary surveys among toddlers. The reason for this is that the methods used in these national surveys are thought to be unsuited to the immigrant population because of differences in food culture and possible language challenges. However, it is important to know more about what children with immigrant backgrounds are eating and why they are given the food, in order to develop culture sensitive measures and advice on health and nutrition. Diet among toddlers is important for the children's health and development, and it is important to establish good breastfeeding practices and healthy eating habits early. Since the project started in 2012, methods have been developed and tested, and dietary interviews and qualitative interviews with mothers of six months, one year and two old children have been conducted. A group of public health nurses have also been interviewed. Currently, two papers from the project have been published, two papers have been submitted and more are under preparation. Results have also been presented at various conferences. One PhD fellow, one project assistant and several field workers/interpreters have been hired for the project, and scientists from a variety of educational and research institutions in Norway are partners. Altogether 12 master students (from the University of Oslo and Oslo and Akershus University College) have written their theses associated with the project. A dissemination seminar will take place in the spring of 2016 to present the results.

Infant and child feeding practices are of fundamental importance for the health and wellbeing of young children. Norwegian recommendations for infant and child feeding do not take into account Norway's multicultural society and are based on the diet of th e majority population. Several surveys have documented the diet and infant feeding pattern of Norwegian infants and children whereas knowledge about these practices among children born to immigrant parents is scarce. Some problems have been identified in these children, such as high prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and vitamin D deficiency. Little is known about breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. Health problems that are more prevalent in many groups of adults with immigrant background s include diabetes type 2 and obesity. Research indicates that early nutrition might influence the development of these health problems in adulthood. This underlines the importance of addressing and improving the diet of infants and young children, as par t of addressing the social gradient in health between socio-economic groups in Norway. This project will assess the diet and feeding practices of infants and children of immigrant parents born in Somalia and Iraq. It will further explore the parents' expe riences in meeting the Norwegian health systems' counselling practices regarding infant and child feeding. The project will produce knowledge which is instrumental for developing and testing culturally sensitive strategies and interventions. It will devel op tools to assess diet and feeding practices of infants and children that can be used in future studies. This project responds to a number of priority areas in the Public Health Programme as well as a number of strategic policy documents from the Ministr y of Health. The project will collaborate with two other research projects investigating health and nutrition in migrant groups creating a network of researchers with relevant competencies.