Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.

Migrants and refugees living in high income countries (HICs) have an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) due to malnutrition at different stages over their life course. This systematic review aims to examine the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among migrants and refugee...

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Main Authors: Alex Ankomah, Judith Byaruhanga, Emma Woolley, Sheila Boamah, Blessing Akombi-Inyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273382
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author Alex Ankomah
Judith Byaruhanga
Emma Woolley
Sheila Boamah
Blessing Akombi-Inyang
author_facet Alex Ankomah
Judith Byaruhanga
Emma Woolley
Sheila Boamah
Blessing Akombi-Inyang
author_sort Alex Ankomah
collection DOAJ
description Migrants and refugees living in high income countries (HICs) have an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) due to malnutrition at different stages over their life course. This systematic review aims to examine the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among migrants and refugees in developed countries. This review was informed by the standard Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed observational studies that focused on the DBM in refugee or migrant populations; and were written in English with full texts available and accessible. A combination of keywords was used to search 8 electronic bibliographic databases including Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest, Scopus, PubMed, and web of science. There is a paucity of research into the DBM among migrants and refugees residing in HICs. Of a total of 2344 articles retrieved from eight databases, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria. All included studies showed the co-existence of some form of undernutrition and overnutrition within the same population. Overnutrition (overweight and obesity) in the studied populations ranged from 11.1% to 42% while undernutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) ranged from 0.3% to 17%. Standard measures for anthropometry as determined by World Health Organization (WHO) were used for data collection in all included studies. A piloted form informed by the Cochrane Public Health Group Data Extraction and Assessment Template was used in the extraction of data from retrieved studies. Quality assessment of included studies was performed using the study assessment tools of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and showed that all studies were of fair quality. Interventions that simultaneously target more than one form of malnutrition especially amongst migrant and refugee populations must be implemented for policy solutions to be effective. This review has been registered by the PROSPERO international prospective registry for systematic reviews, reference CRD42020192416.
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spelling doaj.art-0d18733ae20b4132bfbaa2de393844082022-12-22T03:20:09ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01178e027338210.1371/journal.pone.0273382Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.Alex AnkomahJudith ByaruhangaEmma WoolleySheila BoamahBlessing Akombi-InyangMigrants and refugees living in high income countries (HICs) have an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) due to malnutrition at different stages over their life course. This systematic review aims to examine the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among migrants and refugees in developed countries. This review was informed by the standard Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed observational studies that focused on the DBM in refugee or migrant populations; and were written in English with full texts available and accessible. A combination of keywords was used to search 8 electronic bibliographic databases including Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest, Scopus, PubMed, and web of science. There is a paucity of research into the DBM among migrants and refugees residing in HICs. Of a total of 2344 articles retrieved from eight databases, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria. All included studies showed the co-existence of some form of undernutrition and overnutrition within the same population. Overnutrition (overweight and obesity) in the studied populations ranged from 11.1% to 42% while undernutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) ranged from 0.3% to 17%. Standard measures for anthropometry as determined by World Health Organization (WHO) were used for data collection in all included studies. A piloted form informed by the Cochrane Public Health Group Data Extraction and Assessment Template was used in the extraction of data from retrieved studies. Quality assessment of included studies was performed using the study assessment tools of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and showed that all studies were of fair quality. Interventions that simultaneously target more than one form of malnutrition especially amongst migrant and refugee populations must be implemented for policy solutions to be effective. This review has been registered by the PROSPERO international prospective registry for systematic reviews, reference CRD42020192416.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273382
spellingShingle Alex Ankomah
Judith Byaruhanga
Emma Woolley
Sheila Boamah
Blessing Akombi-Inyang
Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
PLoS ONE
title Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
title_full Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
title_fullStr Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
title_full_unstemmed Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
title_short Double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.
title_sort double burden of malnutrition among migrants and refugees in developed countries a mixed methods systematic review
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273382
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