. 2021 Jul 12;24(13):4313–4327. doi: 10.1017/S1368980021002925

Table 3.

Charting of literature examining food insecurity issues among recently arrived refugees settling in high-income countries^*

Code	Author and year	Population	Study focus	Design and method	Refugee food insecurity issues identified
Australia
A1	Burns⁽⁴⁰⁾ 2000	n 33. Refugees from Somali (30 women and 3 men)	Food and nutrition issues of Somali refugees	Cross-sectional Mixed methods Group interviews, followed by individual interviews and nutritional analysis of seven women	• Reduced access to halal food • Difficulties finding affordable traditional, familiar foods • Local foods considered not fresh/altered taste Unfamiliar with some local foods • Reluctant to access food emergency services • Changes in HH responsibility for food preparation Changes in social network • Increased intake of oil and soft drinks due to low price • Impact of historical factors
A2	Renzaho and Burns⁽⁴¹⁾ 2006	n 139 HH Sub-Saharan migrants and 54 % were refugees	Food habits of migrants and refugees settling in Victoria	Cross-sectional Mixed methods Face-to-face interviews	• Difficulty in locating traditional staple foods • Nutritional implications of substituting nutritionally inferior local foods for traditional foods • ‘Forced’ acculturation through high prohibitive cost of some culturally desired foods • Taste of some familiar foods perceived as poor
A3	Gallegos, Ellies and Wright⁽⁴²⁾ 2008	n 51 Refugees from 14 cultural backgrounds	Prevalence and issues related to FI among refugees in Perth	Cross-sectional Quantitative Questionnaire	• Lack of access to transport • HH financial issues including priorities, budgeting skills, sending money home, late welfare payments • Cultural difference in how/when FI disclosed • FI increases complexity of resettlement process
A4	Gichunge et al⁽⁴³⁾ 2015	n 71 HH (383 people). Refugees from Burundi, Congo, Rwanda	Relationship between FI, social support and vegetable intake among African refugees in Queensland	Cross-sectional Quantitative USDA 18-item Food Security Module and food frequency questionnaire	• Poor language proficiency • Lack of social network for emotional and material support
A5	Kavian et al⁽¹⁴⁾ 2020	N 10. Female refugees from Afghanistan	Food access challenges for Afghan women refugees settling in Adelaide	Cross-sectional Qualitative Semi-structured face- to-face interviews	• Health and other issues related to transition country • Navigating new food environment • Unfamiliar food culture • Challenges accessing halal food • Finding culturally appropriate and desired food
Canada
C1	Vahabi et al⁽³²⁾ 2010	n 70 Refugees from Latin America, resettling in Canada for less than 5 years	Food insecurity issues among Latino American refugees settling in Toronto	Cross-sectional Quantitative Self-completed survey	• Food banks lacked perishables regularly used • Canned goods at food banks unfamiliar
C2	Girard and Sercia⁽²⁷⁾ 2013	n 506 Recently resettled immigrants and refugees	Social and nutritional issues related to food insecurity among immigrants settling in Montreal	Cross-sectional Quantitative Questionnaire including 4 items related to FI	• Determining FI prevalence can be impeded by cultural bias or shame • Low level of education impacts access • Marked decline in some nutrient-dense foods, such as fruit and fish
C3	Moffat, Mohammed and Newbold⁽⁴⁴⁾ 2017	n 24. Multi-country sample of immigrants (50 % refugees) n 22. refugee service providers	Interaction between food insecurity and culture among immigrants living in Hamilton, Ontario	Cross-sectional Qualitative Immigrant perspectives captured through focus groups. Individual interviews with service providers.	• Poor access to culturally specific foodways/food • Incongruence between refugee and service provider perspectives • Concerns about safety of local foods • Local food taste and unfamiliarity • Difficulties in sourcing halal and related trust issues • Different storage and packaging of foods • Language barrier • Poor label reading literacy • Loss of FI cultural mechanisms • Food banks rarely used • Absence of social capital
C4	Lane, Nisbet and Vatanparast⁽⁴⁵⁾ 2019	n 300. Immigrant and refugee children aged 3–13 years n 23 service providers	Using data from the Healthy Immigrant Children study to investigate FI and nutritional risk	Cross sectional Mixed-methods Self-completed food security and 24-h dietary recall questionnaire Interviews with newcomers and service providers	• Financial priorities competing with food purchase including prescription medication and transport loans • Very few accessed food banks
C5	Vatanparast et al⁽¹²⁾	n 54. Syrian refugees settling in Canada since 2015. n 15. Refugee settlement and support agency providers.	An exploration of food security issues among Syrian refugees resettling in Canada.	Cross-sectional Qualitative Face-to-face semi- structured interviews with refugees. Face-to-face or telephone semi- structured interviews with service providers.	• High cost of accessing Arabic/Syrian food • Financial priorities competing with food budget, including transport and household fixed bills • Transport issues, related to language barriers, cost and geographic location, impact food access • Neighbourhood location affecting access and availability of food • Difficulties related to language, transport and income negatively impacting access to halal food • Social networks assist in navigation of food systems and halal food location and choice and development of food quality and value perceptions • Food security management remains gendered with women carrying the majority of the burden • Food banks accessed but limited halal options and food waste an issue
USA
U1	Hadley and Sellen⁽²⁹⁾ 2006	n 33 Liberian refugees settling the USA less than 5 years	Food security and child hunger among Liberians resettling in USA	Cross-sectional Qualitative Face-to-face interviews	• ‘Chemicals’ in locally available food • Preference for in-home family meals • Primary shopper unfamiliar with shopping environment • Low income • Difficulties with local language
U2	Hadley, Zodhiates and Sellen⁽²⁸⁾ 2007	n 101 Refugees from Liberia with a child under 5 years. Settled in the US for less than 4 years.	Prevalence and severity of FI of Liberian refugees recently settling in the USA	Cross-sectional Mixed methods Participant observation and structured in-depth interviews at baseline and 6-month follow-up	• Language difficulties • Difficulty navigating shopping environment • Poor budgeting skills • HH finance allocations (e.g. bills and family obligations) • Low income and education • Low dietary acculturation • Unemployment
U3	Hadley, Patil and Nahayo⁽³⁸⁾ 2010	n 281 Refugees from various COBs, 64 % female. Staff from resettlement agency (n 39)	Prevalence and correlates of FI in recently resettled refugees in Midwestern USA	Cross-sectional Quantitative Questionnaire administered in face- to-face interviews	• Food environment challenges including unfamiliar foods and unknown shop locations • Lack of knowledge in how to cook American foods • Difficulties finding desired foods
U4	Dharod, Croom and Sady⁽³¹⁾ 2013	n 195. Refugee mothers from Somalia	Relationship between FI, dietary intake and body weight among Somali	Cross-sectional Quantitative Survey administered in interview process. Height and weight	• Cultural food traditions may outrank nutrition priorities and negatively impact meal choices and food security.
			women settling in USA	measured and recorded by interviewer
U5	Anderson et al⁽²⁴⁾ 2014	n 49 Refugees from Sudan settling in Atlanta	To test if HH FI is reduced by social support, increased income and attitudes to traditional foods	Cross-sectional Quantitative 10 item survey administered by trained Sudanese interviewers during interview sessions	• Cultural food priorities may impact food budgeting • FI response and coping mechanisms may be culturally based
U6	Nunnery et al⁽¹³⁾ 2015	n 33 Refugee Liberian caregivers	To examine FI and budgeting practices among Liberian caregivers settling in the USA	Cross-sectional Mixed methods Semi-structured face- to-face interviews	• Unstable pre-settlement experiences • Socio-cultural differences in receiving country • Difficulty navigating grocery stores • Unfamiliar food choices compromises food management and budgeting practices • Length of stay does not always reduce FI • Budgeting not just income can be a key factor in some sub-groups
U7	McElrone et al⁽³⁹⁾ 2019	n 18 Female refugees from Burundi and Congo	To understand the FI barriers and facilitators among Burundian and Congolese refugees settling in the USA.	Cross-sectional Qualitative Semi-structured face- to-face interviews	• Low level of dietary acculturation • Poor language proficiency • Unfamiliar with local cooking methods/equipment • Unfamiliar with preparing local ingredients/dishes • Difficulties using local currency • Access to private transportation • Level of social support • Challenges using public transport • Limited access to food gardening space • Limited access to culturally appropriate foods
Switzerland
S1	Khakpour et al⁽³⁰⁾ 2017	n 25. Afghani refugees living in Swiss refugee camp.	Impact of socio-economic and cultural factors on refugee FI.	Cross-sectional. Mixed methods Face-to-face interviews. Questionnaire	• Cultural differences • Lack of social connection and interaction • Language difficulties • Financial struggles • Lack of access to culturally appropriate food • Lack of knowledge in utilisation of local food
United Kingdom
UK1	Sellen, Tedstone and Frize⁽⁴⁶⁾ 2002	n 30. Refugees from various COB, with children under 5 years of age, settling in the UK less than 2 years.	Prevalence and issues related to FI among recently arrived refugees settling in the UK.	Cross-sectional. Mixed methods Face-to-face interviews. Questionnaire	• High cost of fresh foods • Lack of access to quality fresh produce • Lack of prep time due to work commitments • Easy access to fast food and snacks • Lack of access to garden
Norway
N1	Terragni et al⁽⁴⁷⁾ 2014	n 21. Refugees from various COB.	Early-phase food habits and dietary acculturation.	Cross-sectional. Qualitative Face-to-face interviews.	• Challenging to be in ‘first wave’ of refugees • Access to transport improves food access • Will frequent ethnic shops even if distant from home • Lunch affected by Western foodways: no commensality, often cold, lunchboxes unfamiliar • Distrust of labelling and shops in regard to halal • Halal limits food choice and restricted diet short-term • Lack of confidence in new food culture lead to poorer diets • Food prices are a barrier to access • Rapid changes to diet as a result of new foods and foodways • Challenges reproducing social norms and culinary codes in new environment

HH, households; FI, food insecurity; ME, Middle East; USDA, United States Department of Agriculture; COB, countries of birth.

Studies are grouped by country and ranked in ascending order in terms of publication year. The coding represented the first letter (or initials for the UK), followed by the number in which they appear in the table. This code is then used to refer to the studies throughout the discussion.