Open AccessAboriginal health policy: is nutrition the ‘gap’ in ‘Closing the Gap’?
Author(s) -
Browne Jennifer,
Hayes Rick,
Gleeson Deborah
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/1753-6405.12223
Subject(s) - closing (real estate) , government (linguistics) , pacific islanders , environmental health , population health , health policy , medicine , economic growth , food security , population , political science , public health , geography , nursing , economics , archaeology , agriculture , philosophy , linguistics , law
Abstract Objective: To examine the extent to which nutrition has been prioritised in national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health policy. Method: Australian Government websites were searched for Aboriginal‐specific health policies and strategies developed between 2000 and 2012. Thirteen documents describing nine policies were analysed. Results: Increased and more comprehensive inclusion of nutrition in Aboriginal health policy was identified during the first half of this period. In the second half, however, nutrition strategies were fragmented, and a much greater emphasis was placed on smoking. Conclusion and Implication: With the exception of food security in remote communities, nutrition seems to have disappeared from the national Aboriginal health policy agenda. This is a concern, given the burden of nutrition‐related disease in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.