Weight gain problem for Asian immigrants

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press

WEIGHTY ISSUES: Chinese student Sophie Chang, left, discusses her New Zealand diet with researcher Katherine Zhang.

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Asian migrants get fatter and unhealthier the longer they live in New Zealand, a new study shows.

Dietitian Katherine Zhang conducted a nutritional-needs assessment of Christchurch's East Asian community that found immigration often had a negative impact on their health.

A dramatic change in diet, less exercise and the stress of migrating could result in rapid weight gain, which led to a fatty liver and other diseases.

"The longer the duration of residence in New Zealand, the higher the cardiovascular disease mortality rate is among Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups," Zhang's report said.

"Longer duration of residence is also significantly associated with likelihood of self-reporting high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and being obese for all Asians."

Zhang's study, commissioned by Partnership Health, found Asians were often uninformed about how to choose healthy Western foods, could not understand English food labels, and were unaware of the Heart Foundation "tick".

A lack of research on Asians' health and the perception that they were healthy meant they were not a target group for information campaigns.

"Migrants have very special needs in terms of how to preserve their health," Zhang said.

Asians wanted supermarket tours, cooking classes with New Zealand ingredients, and translated nutritional information to help them make good choices.

"They gave me a lot of ideas, but nobody does this kind of work. There's a big gap," Zhang said.

Young women, in particular, were concerned about weight gain, and health professionals reported that the number of Asian patients with eating disorders was increasing.

Health workers said language was often a barrier and they found it difficult to adapt a Western treatment model for their Asian patients.

Chinese student Sophie Chang, 24, said she gained 10 kilograms within two years of moving to New Zealand.

She flatted with friends when she first arrived and started eating new foods, such as chips and pizza.

At home her parents had cooked all her meals, which involved a lot of rice and vegetables, but in New Zealand she often ate takeaways.

"Lots of students don't have that much time for cooking because they study hard," she said.

While treats such as chocolate and icecream were expensive in China and came in small portions, they were much cheaper in New Zealand.

Chang said she had tried herbal teas to lose weight. One friend had tried diet pills, while others were missing meals to lose weight.

Partnership Health ethnic liaison officer Wayne Reid said Zhang's study followed a report he co-authored last year showing Christchurch was sitting on a "time bomb" of unmet Asian health needs.

"Nutrition is the basis of many health problems," he said.

"We thought if we could get a more accurate idea of what was happening out there, we could address that and start the ball rolling."

He hoped to expand the healthy-eating programme "Appetite For Life" to Asian communities and ultimately to establish an Asian health centre in Canterbury.

- © Fairfax NZ News