The Need for Culturally Responsive Nutritional Counselling for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Australia
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Setting
2.2. Study Design
2.3. Data Analysis
2.4. Ethics Approval
2.5. Aim
3. Results
3.1. Improving Nutrition Knowledge
“[More information] on healthier eating. Cause, man, I could eat a whole thing of ice cream.”—Community member
“Once I did find out I was pregnant, I did put a lot more greens in my diet and fruit.”—Community member
“And they’re learning—trying to learn how to be a good mum or how to be pregnant with no help or guidance like, you know. Now this generation’s actually got guidance where the last generation had no guidance about how to be pregnant. So instead of having like, here are some diseases and problems, it’s more like how to have a better pregnancy than your mum had.”—Non-Indigenous HCP
“[wants information on]—what’s your normal plate? That? You know, and—and the healthy—the healthy size is a piece of meat the size of your bread.”—Community member
3.2. Sources of Nutrition Information
“I’ve got quite a few pregnancy and mum support groups on Facebook. And, you know, you’ve got so many women answering you, and giving you different kind of support.”—Community member
“Kangaroo. You can’t get a better source of iron than… kangaroo.”—Community member
“I went through an [ACCHO], and I didn’t know about them until a family member told me.”—Community member
“I avoided, oh, a lot of citrus fruits. ‘Cause apparently they causes miscarriage, and I’ve had three stillborns.”—Community member
3.3. Dietitian Services
“I think another thing that’s needed is … more information about gestational diabetes. ‘Cause the dietitian gives you just a basic amount, and you sit there racking your brain, ……I got diagnosed yesterday, day before, and I went to the shops and I was looking at the nutrition information, and I was like I don’t know what I’m supposed to eat, what I’m not supposed to eat. And it’s really hard to make good meals when, you know, no carbohydrate, no sugar.”—Community member
“like I had knee problems, and, [the HCP] “oh, it’s ‘cause you’re fat”. Just so rude, hey. Just so mean.”—Community member
“the hospital dietitian is like they want to get you in, out. They don’t really care about your health.”—Community member
“Well, I craved a lot of, um, like orange. Orange things. And then the doctor looked up the thing and goes you’re low in, um, vitamin C. And he goes, get on vitamin C tablets and you’ll be fine. And I was like, yeah, but I like eating the fruit.”—Community member
“Um, but with us, they actually have—when they get diagnosed with GDM or if they’ve got, you know, um, Type 1 diabetes, they actually see the diabetes educator at the hospital in antenatal clinic and they have a diabetes, um—they have the—the dietitian, um, do a bit of a talk to them and sort of give them brochures on the food. We don’t actually sort of—they get that information directly from the hospital, but we sort of support them after that in a way of, you know, …—probably shouldn’t have had that food, you know, because yes, that will spike it and you know, maybe try whole meal or bread before you go to bed or whatever, you know. …, but yeah. So it—it’s kind of the hospital that education initially.”—Non-Indigenous HCP
“We give them a brochure…, it’s like red food, um, fruit food, orange food, that sort of thing. And it does say food to avoid in pregnancy and it’s highlighted in red.”—Non-Indigenous HCP
4. Discussion
Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
GP | General Practitioner |
BOC | Birthing On Country |
AMS | Aboriginal Medical Service |
ACCHO | Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisation |
QLD | Queensland |
NSW | New South Wales |
WA | Western Australia |
AIATSIS | Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies |
HCP | Healthcare professional |
GDM | Gestational Diabetes Mellitus |
AGHE | Australian Guide to Healthy Eating |
MBS | Medicare Benefits Scheme |
NDIS | National Disability Insurance Scheme |
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Jalloub, L.; Gilbert, S.; Collins, C.; Adam, M.T.P.; Thorogood, M.; Smith, T.; Gliddon, J.; St Clair, S.; Turner, N.; Marriott, R.; et al. The Need for Culturally Responsive Nutritional Counselling for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Australia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22, 1043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22071043
Jalloub L, Gilbert S, Collins C, Adam MTP, Thorogood M, Smith T, Gliddon J, St Clair S, Turner N, Marriott R, et al. The Need for Culturally Responsive Nutritional Counselling for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025; 22(7):1043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22071043
Chicago/Turabian StyleJalloub, Lina, Stephanie Gilbert, Clare Collins, Marc T. P. Adam, Mieka Thorogood, Tahlia Smith, Janinne Gliddon, Serena St Clair, Nicole Turner, Rhonda Marriott, and et al. 2025. "The Need for Culturally Responsive Nutritional Counselling for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Australia" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22, no. 7: 1043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22071043
APA StyleJalloub, L., Gilbert, S., Collins, C., Adam, M. T. P., Thorogood, M., Smith, T., Gliddon, J., St Clair, S., Turner, N., Marriott, R., Walker, R., Rae, K. M., & on behalf of Deadly Diets Indigenous Steering Committee. (2025). The Need for Culturally Responsive Nutritional Counselling for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(7), 1043. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22071043