Promoting awareness of nutritional risk factors contributing to chronic disease in indigenous communities: an outreach model

Disparities in socio-economic status and community environment are significant factors in the health adversities experienced in Indigenous communities. Access to appropriate health services and education around nutrition has also been shown to contribute to Indigenous plight of health inequalities. In this review, it is made clear that while the statistics on morbidity and risk factors for chronic disease have been empirically established, attempts to address such issues have been inadequate. The lack of empirical evidence around prevention strategies for obesity indicates that further implementation of outreach programs is necessary to gain robust evidence of the types of health behaviours indigenous people intend to adopt and how to apply positive health behaviours to lifestyle in general. The following paper firstly looks at several Indigenous health issues related to nutrition and physical activity such as obesity, renal failure and foetal development. Secondly, the paper will discuss education and the types of health beliefs of Indigenous people and finally, the paper will describe the Oz Child outreach program ‘Healthy and Active Families’.