Immigrants from the third world are more prone to acquire nutritional deficiency diseases, such as rickets, osteomalacia and iron deficiency anemia than the rest of the population in the recipient countries. Lately, evidence is also emerging that some immigrant groups are particularly susceptible to diseases related to overputrition, such as coronary heart disease and non-insulin dependent diabetes. The purpose of this review article is to give a holistic view of the nutrition related diseases and disorders among immigrants. It deals with the prevalence of these diseases among immigrants in Northern European countries, and looks into some of the hypotheses, which have been put forward to explain why immigrant groups are more prone to acquire these diseases than the rest of the population. The focus of this part of the paper is the process of dietary change after migration. The practical implications of the findings from the literature review are then discussed. © 1993, A B Academic Publishers. Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved.

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Child Nutrition Disorders energy metabolism Europe developing country Developing Countries human nutritional disorder obesity feeding behavior ethnology Adolescent preschool child Infant risk factor primary prevention Review Risk Factors Child, Preschool prevalence nutritional deficiency nutrition Deficiency Diseases adult migration Food Habits Nutrition Surveys Emigration and Immigration Child