Nutrition Project

The Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project commenced in January 2007. Its primary aim is to address nutrition and food security issues among refugee children and their families who have recently settled in Fairfield Local Government Area in Sydney. The Project is funded by the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) as a part of its Communities for Children Initiative, under the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, and facilitated by The Smith Family.

researched the existence of food insecurity within and between refugee communities;
developed Nutrition Education Program, a pool of 16 educational resources customised to meet the needs of identified communities;
trained 60 community members as Bilingual Community Educators (BCEs) in nutrition to co-facilitate the program;
provided over 5000 Fairfield residents with nutrition education sessions;
supervised research students from the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, University of Sydney, whose research include Mapping of emergency food relief services in Fairfield LGA, Lunchbox contents of newly arrived refugee school children: How do they compare nutritionally to those of other children?, Food safety & healthy lunchbox ideas for you and your family (a pictorial resource);
provided nutrition training to university students and local health staff;
promoted healthy eating and physical exercise messages within refugee communities;
promoted strategies for increasing food security and availability such as the establishment of community gardens and food cooperatives;
provided in-home nutrition education for high need or complicated clinical referral. Referrals can be made directly to our Community Dietician;
recently completed impact evaluation with a specific focus on changes in the prevalence of food insecurity.

The Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project works closely with its community partners to implement culturally appropriate strategies aimed at addressing the nutritional needs and alleviating the impact of food insecurity within refugee families. The activities of the project are based on the principles of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.

For more information about the project, to make a referral or to organise nutrition education session for your group, please contact the NSW Refugee Health Service’s Community Dietician: 8778 0770, refugeehealth@sswahs.nsw.gov.au.

The Nutrition Education Program is a free 6-session group program that provides education on healthy eating to refugee communities. It is a key component of the Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project. Trained Bilingual Community Educators assist our Community Dietician to run the program.

The Fairfield Refugee Nutrition Project: Resource Manual is the program’s supporting document. It provides suggested lesson plans including key messages, activities and evaluation methods. The package is designed to be simple to use and uses graphics where possible, to assist facilitators working with people with limited literacy.

While the program was designed to meet the needs of specific refugee communities living in Fairfield, the content is designed to be flexible enough to meet the needs of most refugee groups. Facilitators can select the sections that are relevant to their group as each of the 10 topics can be delivered as a stand-alone session.

Community groups, organisations and other interested parties are welcome to make use of the manual when running groups, with appropriate acknowledgement. A nutritionist, dietician or other health professional is required to co-facilitate groups.