Policy Brief of Obesity among Indigenous Australians PDF

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This assignment is the policy brief among the indigenous population of Australia. It contains executive summary, policy overview, policy option, policy recommendations...

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Policy Brief of Obesity among Indigenous Australians Torrens University

Submitted to:

Submitted by:

Richa Jaiswal

Sabina RanaBhujel

Facilitator

Student no: 00264372T

Health Policy and Advocacy

Health Policy and Advocacy

Torrens University

Email: [email protected]

Word count: 1019

Executive summary: There is a high prevalence of obesity in the indigenous group of people as compared to the non- indigenous Australians. It is even more among the indigenous people who are poor and least educated and living in the remote areas. The Australian government has been focusing on formulating effective plans to address the health needs of these groups. As a result, there are many policies for this purpose. This policy brief will illustrate some of the policies, policy alternatives and recommendations of policy in order to meet the ground level criteria of health and health need of the indigenous population.

Introduction: Obesity is noticeably more prevalent among the indigenous Australians; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in contrast to other Australians (Department of Health and Ageing, 2006). According to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) in the year 2004-2005, obesity was found as an increasing problem in the indigenous groups. There was a higher obese percentage (29%) in the indigenous population as compared to the non-indigenous (17%). There are many causes of obesity like; sedentary lifestyle, higher fat intake but lower expenditure, lack of physical activities, industrialization, economic transition and many more. But, obesity is more likely found among the population with higher poverty and least education (Burns, J., & Thomson, N., 2006). The dense energy food with lots of fat and carbohydrate available in the stores of the remote areas also contribute the indigenous obesity (Brimblecombe, 2012). The Australian government has been focusing to develop plans and strategies in order to address the demerits in health of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait I slander. And there is a focus on improving the health system response to this problem. Likewise, the making of a better and efficient health care system for the Aboriginal people at a primary level is also prioritized by the nation. However, problems are in the financing of health facilities for the Indigenous populations in Australia and this has created a challenge for the policy makers for developing strategies despite of the complex financing (OTIM, M., & Anderson, I.,2004).

Key stakeholders: The main stakeholders affecting the health status of the indigenous population are; the Australian government, Health researchers and promoters, policy makers, indigenous and non-indigenous population within Australia, health service providers, and Aboriginal community health advocates.

Policy overview: The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action (NATSINSA) Plan was developed as an important part of the Eat Well Australia program. The main objective of the plan is to identify the responsibility of all levels of the Australian government to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition system and health. The broad range of issues are focused by the strategy but were divided into 7 main sectors: - Supply of food in remote areas - Socioeconomic status and food security - Issues regarding nutrition in city areas - Infrastructure and environment of house - Nutrition workforce of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander - Information systems of food and nutrition

From 2004 to June 2010, a NATSINSAP officer was hired to guide the national collaboration in 3 major areas; food supply in the remote areas, Nutrition workforce of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Communication and dissemination of good practice. However, the nutrition promotion have been limited and are not focused for all the ages; child, adult and old age and this matter is vital as the nutritional needs are different according to the age of an individual. The National Strategy and Action Plan should be able to fill the gaps present in the nutrition promotion for the indigenous population.

The main points of the major principles of the NATSINSA plan are; - Self determination and community effort by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

- Effective delivery of the action plan in an appropriate cultural way. - commitment to work in group - Need of support to the NATSINSAP by the nutrition program aimed on the indigenous family environment - Involvement of all stakeholders involved in the plan for the effectiveness of this plan

This 10 years framework was divided into certain phases for effective implementation (Alliance, S. I. G. N., 2001).

Policy option: In order to gain equality in the health status and the life expectancy between the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the non-indigenous by the year 2031, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 20132023 has been made. This health plan addresses all the social determinants to create a better health for the Indigenous group of people. The government is now focusing to improve the indigenous health through the Closing the Gap movement. The main aim under the guidance of Closing the Gap framework are; - Ensuring the early childhood education by 2013 - Closing the life expectancy gap within the generation by 2031 - reducing the indigenous child mortality rate by 2018 - encouraging the education of indigenous students by 2018 - Improving employment outcomes by 2018 There are further ideas in order to achieve this goal like; the collaboration of all the level of government hierarchy to achieve the targets of the plan and address the social determinants of health like education, health, employment and housing (Australia Department of Health, 2013).

Policy recommendations:  The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander need such information which is culturally appropriate, easy to understand and appropriate so the government and all the bodies should focus on this idea.  Likewise, there is the necessity to promote healthy eating habit to support the community ownership and also there should be supply of good quality of food in reasonable prices to the indigenous community.  Additionally, there is a need of incorporation of physical activity, healthy weight into training in order to update the skills (Bauman A. et al, 2006).  There is a need to apply system approach in high level policies so that change can be gained on the indigenous population level and recognize the environment where obesity begins rather than just targeting on programs focusing individual behaviors (Newman, Ludford, Williams & Herriot , 2014).

Conclusion: There are many efforts done to address the indigenous health problems like obesity, there are many policies made by the government of Australia. Even though the government and other important organizations are continuously focused on solving the problem, still there are some loopholes. The government and all the agencies, organizations involving in the strategy, policy making should be aware of the ground level matters that need to be addressed like the education, nutrition and many more. Thus, a sustainable way to solve the problems may be achieved after identifying the limitations rather than just focusing on the individual behaviors.

References: 1. Department of Health and Ageing. (2006). Healthy Weight for Adults and Older Australians: A National Action Agenda to Address Overweight and Obesity in Adults and Older Australians 2006‐2010. 2. Burns, J., & Thomson, N. (2006). Overweight and obesity-a major problem for Indigenous Australians1. Health, 1, 2.

3. OTIM, M., & Anderson, I. (2004). Economics and Indigenous Australian health policy: developing the research agenda. Economics and Indigenous Australian Health, 1. 4.

Brimblecombe, J., (July 3, 2012) Innovative strategies needed to address indigenous obesity. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/innovativestrategies-needed-to-address-indigenous-obesity-7099

5. Alliance, S. I. G. N. (2001). National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan 2000–2010. National Public Health Partnership, Canberra. 6. Australia. Department of Health. (2013). National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan: 2013-2023. Department of Health. 7. Bauman, A., Baur, L., Caterson, I., Gill, T., Wise, M., Brown, W., & Lyle, D. (2006). Healthy Weight for Adults and Older Australians-A National Action Agenda to address overweight and obesity in adults and older Australians-2006-2010.

8. Newman, L., Ludford, I., Williams, C., & Herriot, M. (2014). Applying health in all policies to obesity in South Australia. Health promotion international, 31(1), 44-58....