Indigenous People Case Study

Indigenous peoples around the world face constant challenges to traditional practice including their own tradition of food source and gathering, as well as food that has been brought from mainstream commercial food culture, which has caused many detrimental factors to the health of the indigenous as death rates and health problems rise and life expectancy lowers compared to non-indigenous people (Kolahdooz et al. 2014 pp. 1-10).

Indigenous Australians currently face these issues today and have done so since the British colonisation of Australia in the 1800s (Brimblecombe et al. 2014 p. 1).

Since western food was introduced, health has become largely determined by political, social, economic and environmental circumstances and so programs and

Although many of their barriers and factors are similar to that of the Indigenous Australians, they do have their major differences due to environmental factors (Fieldhouse & Thompson 2012).

Indigenous peoples all over the world are facing detrimental health problems due to the determinants of food choice. The Indigenous people of Australia are one of many being effected and while there are factors effecting the lives of the Aboriginals, there are many programs and interventions being conducted to support the indigenous population to gain knowledge about the unfamiliar types of food that has been introduced to them by the British, so that they can become more informed and have an understanding of what kinds of food are healthy and what is

2014 p. 395) stating that factors in these communities include, but are not limited to, the cost of healthy fruits and vegetables being higher than that of the introduced foods such as sugar, flour and tinned milk, which lasts longer without needing refrigeration facilities, making it more convenient and cheaper to store. A low employment and income as well as relying for money and buying rations, which limits their choice of food as they can only buy what they can afford and what will last and keep them fuller for longer. Lack of knowledge and an understanding of the contemporary food system consequently influence these community groups due to the media and commercial industry as they play a big part in telling people what is healthy even when it is not, as well as a lack of understanding in being able to read the standard food labeling that provides the recommended daily intake, especially when English is most likely to only be a third or fourth spoken