Food and nutrition programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: an overview of systematic reviews

© AHHA 2018. Objective. To provide an overview of previous reviews of programs that aimed to improve nutritional status or dietrelated health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in order to determine what programs are effective and why. Methods. A systematic search of databases and relevant websites was undertaken to identify reviews of nutrition interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Pairs of reviewers undertook study selection and data extraction and performed quality assessment using a validated tool. Results. Twelve papers reporting 11 reviews were identified. Two reviews were rated high quality, three were rated medium and six were rated low quality. The reviews demonstrated that a positive effect on nutrition and chronic disease indicators can be a result of: 1) incorporating nutrition and breastfeeding advice into maternal and child health care services; and 2) multifaceted community nutrition programs. The evidence suggests that the most important factor determining the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food and nutrition programs is community involvement in (and, ideally, control of) program development and implementation. Conclusions. Community-directed food and nutrition programs, especially those with multiple components that address the underlying causes of nutrition issues, can be effective in improving nutrition-related outcomes.