Refugee and immigrants’ food consumption, housing and sociodemographic characteristics in southern Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Objective To describe the food consumption of immigrants and refugees in a city in southern Brazil and evaluate the associations with sociodemographic and housing characteristics. Method This is a cross-sectional study with users of an association specialized in assisting refugees and immigrants in Porto Alegre-RS. Individuals aged 18 or over of both sexes with an understanding of Portuguese were included. An online questionnaire with sociodemographic, housing, and food characteristics was available to service users, and data analysis was performed using SPSS, considering p < 0.05. Results The study included 68 individuals, predominantly women (76.5%) with a mean age of 34.39 (± 8.9) years and mainly from Venezuela. The food group most frequently consumed daily was the cereal group. Groups such as legumes and vegetables, meat and eggs, biscuits, and cold meats presented a higher weekly consumption frequency. Fruit, Brazil nuts and walnuts, dairy products, regular soda, ready-made desserts, frozen ready-made meals, and fried foods had the highest monthly consumption. There was an association between the consumption of fried foods and sex, cereal consumption and self-declared color, the consumption of biscuits, chocolate drinks, schooling, and cold meats consumption and age. Conclusion In this study we observed that men consumed more fried foods than women and low education level was associated with the frequent consumption of biscuits, chocolate drinks, ham, salami or mortadella and ready-made meals. This study allowed us to investigate the profile and diet of people among refugees and immigrants in the South of Brazil since most of the data on food consumption of this type of population are from the North, and these regions are different in relation to socioeconomic characteristics. It is essential to become aware of the health and food situation of this population group to assist in the acculturation process and ensure adequate reception.