Health status and use of health services among recently arrived men with refugee backgrounds: A comparative analysis of urban and regional settlement in South-east Queensland

Approximately one-third of refugee and humanitarian entrants to Australia are adult men. Many of these men and their families settle in regional areas. Little is known about the health status of refugee men and the use of health services, and whether or not there are differences between those living in urban and regional areas. This paper reports on the cross-sectional differences in health status and use of health services among a group of 233 recently arrived refugee men living in urban and regional areas of South-east Queensland. Overall, participants reported good levels of subjective health status, moderate to good levels of well-being, and low prevalence of mental illness. Men living in urban areas were more likely to have a longstanding illness and report poorer health status than those settled in regional areas. In contrast, men living in regional areas reported poorer levels of well-being in the environment domain and were more likely to visit hospital emergency departments. Targeted health promotion programs will ensure that refugee men remain healthy and develop their full potential as members of the Australian community. Programs that facilitate refugees’ access to primary health care in regional areas may promote more appropriate use of hospital emergency departments by these communities.

Ethnic differences in body fat distribution among Asian pre-pubertal children: A cross-sectional multicenter study

Background Ethnic differences in body fat distribution contribute to ethnic differences in cardiovascular morbidities and diabetes. However few data are available on differences in fat distribution in Asian children from various backgrounds. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore ethnic differences in body fat distribution among Asian children from four countries. Methods A total of 758 children aged 8-10 y from China, Lebanon, Malaysia and Thailand were recruited using a non-random purposive sampling approach to enrol children encompassing a wide BMI range. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM, derived from total body water [TBW] estimation using the deuterium dilution technique) and skinfold thickness (SFT) at biceps, triceps, subscapular, supraspinale and medial calf were collected. Results After controlling for height and weight, Chinese and Thai children had a significantly higher WC than their Lebanese and Malay counterparts. Chinese and Thais tended to have higher trunk fat deposits than Lebanese and Malays reflected in trunk SFT, trunk/upper extremity ratio or supraspinale/upper extremity ratio after adjustment for age and total body fat. The subscapular/supraspinale skinfold ratio was lower in Chinese and Thais compared with Lebanese and Malays after correcting for trunk SFT. Conclusions Asian pre-pubertal children from different origins vary in body fat distribution. These results indicate the importance of population-specific WC cut-off points or other fat distribution indices to identify the population at risk of obesity-related health problems.

Education and training of medical physicists in south East Asia: Accomplishments and challenges

John Cameron has made significant contributions to the field of Medical Physics. His contributions encompassed research and development, technical developments and education. He had a particular interest in the education of medical physicists in developing countries. Structured clinical training is also an essential component of the professional development of a medical physicist. This paper considers aspects of the clinical training and education of medical physicists in South-East Asia and the challenges facing the profession in the region if it is to keep pace with the rapid increase in the amount and technical complexity of medical physics infrastructure in the region.

Towards Asia literacy : the Australian curriculum and Asian-Australian children's literature

This paper is concerned with the ways Asia Literacy can be developed in response to the new Australian Curriculum. In particular, it addresses the learning possibilities of the Asian-Australian Literature and Publishing Project (AACLAP) available through AustLit: the Australian Literature Resource. The paper argues that the AACLAP dataset provides a broad range of resources through which to address the cross curriculum priority of the Australian Curriculum on Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia. It contends that AACLAP has the potential to make a valuable contribution to teachers’ efforts to incorporate this cross curriculum priority in their classroom practice whilst also developing the general capabilities of intercultural understanding and the use of information and communication technology (ICT). This discussion is of particular significance to teachers of English and History, given that these disciplines are implemented in the first phase of the Australian Curriculum in schools. The paper concludes that by drawing on the broad range of texts available in the AACLAP collection as well as the Critical Anthology and the Research and Learning Trails, teachers and students will be much better positioned to develop a deeper understanding of the diversity of the Asian region and the complexities of Asian-Australian relationships.