Background: Immigration is a key factor contributing to population growth in Canada, a trend that is expected to continue. Immigrants generally arrive with better health than the Canadian-born population, but this advantage often diminishes over time, partially due to dietary acculturation. Emerging evidence points to a bidirectional link between nutrition and mental health. Objective: To explore the bidirectional relationship between nutrition and mental health and its impact on the health of Canadian immigrants, with a specific focus on immigrants' mental health and the healthy immigrant effect. Methods: For this integrative review, two comprehensive literature searches were conducted in the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to July 2024. The review adhered to Whittemore and Knafl's integrative methodology, with the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool used to assess the quality of the studies. Results: A total of 42 and 34 scientific articles were included from the first and second literature searches, respectively. Four main themes emerged from the literature: (1) food insecurity and mental health, (2) obesity and mental health, (3) diet quality and mental health, and (4) the gut microbiome and mental health. These themes were explored in the context of Canadian immigrants' health. Conclusions: The health of immigrants to Canada is likely shaped by complex, bidirectional interactions among various determinants of health, influencing both physical and mental well-being. As newcomers are expected to form an increasing proportion of the Canadian population, further research is needed to understand how the interaction between nutrition and mental health can help promote and safeguard the health of Canadian immigrants.

Anemia due to living condition disproportionally affects the global refugee children. Nutritional deficiency particularly iron deficiency is the primary causes of anemia. Hence, we conducted a systemic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of anemia among refugee children.

We searched systematically all relevant studies on the prevalence of anemia among refugee children including under the age of 18 years, which were conducted between 2009 and 2023 in English from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochran library and other gray literatures such as google scholar. Two researchers independently screened articles based on their title and abstract. The Joana Brigg's Institute (JBI) checklist was used to assess the quality of studies. Random effect model was utilized to calculate the pooled estimate of anemia. Higgins I2 statistics and Egger's test were analyzed to check heterogeneity and publication bias, respectively. Subgroup analysis by continent, age group of the children and year of study was employed to identify the source of heterogeneity.

A total of 14 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. Most of the studies were from Asian countries followed by African countries. The pooled prevalence of anemia among global refugee children was 36.54 with (95% CI: 23.79, 49.28). There was moderate level of heterogeneity between the studies (I2 = 68.91, P<0.001). The highest pooled prevalence of anemia in refugee children was reported in African, it was 56.1%, whereas the lowest pooled prevalence of anemia was in N. America, it was 12.66%. The prevalence of anemia was highest (53.88) in studies done among under-five refugee children.

The global prevalence of anemia among refugee children is found to be moderate public health problem. Anemia prevalence is more common in African refugee children. Intervention and prevention for should be focused especially for refugees found in low- and middle-income countries.

Children in refugee camps, due to their living conditions, are the most vulnerable groups to suffer from anemia. Nutritional deficiencies, especially iron deficiency is the most common causes of anemia. However, there is limited information on the prevalence and associated factors of anemia in Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among internally displaced children at Debark refugee camp, Northwest Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 354 internally displaced children, at Debark refugee camp from March to May 2022. A systematic sampling technique was employed. The socio demographic characteristics were collected by using structured questionnaire via face-to-face interview with the caregivers. The hemoglobin level was determined using HemoCue301+. Form anemic children, venous blood sample was collected for iron profile analysis. Parasitological and anthropometric measurements were also done. The data were entered using Epi-data version 4.6.0.6 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were done. Both crude odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio with the corresponding 95% confidence interval were calculated to measure the strength of association. P-Value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant association.

From the total of 354 children included in this study, more than half (54.8%) of them were male. The median age of children was 7 years with interquartile range of (4-10) years. The total prevalence of anemia in this study was 33.62% (95% CI:28.7, 38.7). Moderate type anemia was predominant in this study. From anemic children 30 (25.2%) had iron deficiency anemia. In this study, low dietary diversity (AOR = 4.9; 95% CI: 2.0, 11.7), duration in the camp more than six months (AOR = 4.2; 95% CI:1.9, 9.4), presence of diarrhea (AOR = 2.7; 95% CI:1.3, 5.7), fever (AOR = 3.4; 95% CI:1.6, 7.1), and wasting (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI:1.3, 10.3) were significantly associated with the prevalence of anemia.

Anemia was moderate public health problem in the current study. Focused policies and strategies towards to internally displaced children should be designed to reduce anemia, by preventing the significant risk factors associated with anemia.

Understanding the health of immigrant children from birth to 18 years of age is important given the significance of the early childhood years and complexity of factors that may influence the health status of immigrant populations. Thus, the purpose of this review was to understand the extent and nature of the literature on the health of immigrant children in Canada.

We conducted a scoping review of the literature. The review was focused on studies of first-generation and second-generation immigrant children aged 0-18 years. We completed standardised data extraction of immigration status, immigration route, age of children, data source, health or clinical focus, country of origin and major findings.

In total, 250 published papers representing data from 237 studies met the inclusion criteria for this study. A total of 178 articles used quantitative methodologies (mostly survey and cross-sectional study designs), 54 used qualitative methodologies and 18 used mixed methodologies. The articles considered in this review included 147 (59%) focusing on physical health, 76 (30%) focusing on mental health and 37 (15%) focusing on the social aspects of health for refugee and first-generation and second-generation immigrant children across the provinces and territories of Canada.

Several literature gaps exist with respect to child immigrant health in Canada. For instance, there are no exclusive studies on immigrant boys and limited studies on children of international students.

Migration is a growing phenomenon around the world, including within the African continent. Many migrants, especially African children, face challenges related to health and social inclusion and can face increased health risks. A systematic scoping review of available literature on the health of African migrant children across the globe was conducted to offer insight into these health risks. The review was conducted over a 15-month period from January 2019 to April 2020, yielding 6602 articles once duplicates were removed. This search included electronic databases, reference lists of articles reviewed, and searches of libraries of relevant organisations. A total of 187 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 159 were quantitative, 22 were qualitative, and 6 used mixed methods. The findings reveal decreased health in this population in areas of nutrition, infectious diseases, mental health, birth outcomes, sexual and reproductive health, physical and developmental health, parasitic infections, oral health, respiratory health, preventative health, endocrine disorders, health care services, and haematological conditions. The findings offer insights into factors influencing the health of African immigrant and refugee children. Further studies, especially qualitative studies, are needed to determine barriers to service access after migration and to investigate other underexplored and overlooked health concerns of African migrant children, including pneumonia and child maltreatment.

In high-income countries, the presentation of tuberculosis is changing, primarily because of migration, and understanding the specific health needs of susceptible populations is becoming increasingly important. Although disseminated tuberculosis is well documented in HIV-positive patients, the disease is poorly described and less expected in HIV-negative individuals. In this Grand Round, we report eight HIV-negative refugees, who presented with extensively disseminated tuberculosis. We discuss the multifactorial causes, such as deprivations during long journeys, precarious living conditions, and the experience of violence, which might add to nutritional factors and chronic disorders, eventually resulting in a state of predisposition to immune deficiency. We also show that disseminated tuberculosis is often difficult to diagnose when pulmonary symptoms are absent. Communication difficulties between refugees and health-care workers are another major hurdle, and every effort should be made to get a valid patient history. This medical history is crucial to guide imaging and other diagnostic procedures to establish a definite diagnosis, which should be confirmed by a positive tuberculosis culture. Because many of these patients are at risk for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, drug susceptibility testing is imperative to guide therapy. In the absence of treatment guidelines for this entity, clinicians can determine treatment duration according to recommendations provided for extrapulmonary tuberculosis and affected organs. Paradoxical expansion of tuberculous lesions during therapy should be treated with corticosteroids. In many cases, treatment duration must be individualised and might even exceed 12 months.