Background
Methods
Design and sample
Group 1 large city N = 7 | Group 2 large city N = 6 | Group 3 small city N = 5 | Group 4 small city N = 8 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age | 42 ± 3.2 | 26 ± 2.0 | 31 ± 2.6 | 39 ± 14.3 |
Years in Sweden | 20 ± 5.8 | 4 ± 2.3 | 9 ± 3.4 | 13 ± 8.3 |
Somali primary language | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
Single | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Employed | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Student | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Data collection procedure
Analysis
Meaning units | Code | Category | Theme |
---|---|---|---|
“Women cooked together, they spent time together and got along. Life was simple.” P13* |
Household chores were done together
|
Extended family essential for everyday life
|
Life in Somalia
|
“Migration has changed everything, stress, children and large family to care for.” L15* |
Alone with a large family
| ||
“When you come to a new country and you don’t have support or someone helping you, it’s easy to be affected by stress.” K7* |
Stressful life without support
| ||
“If you are sick here in Sweden, you still have to do everything yourself, whereas in Somalia you get help.” P15. |
No help when needed
| ||
“My situation is different because I wasn’t married off, I chose the person I wanted to get married to. So I didn’t have the support from my family.” P16 |
Go against the will of the family
|
Traditional way of living
| |
“The house work takes most of the time and energy. You have to go to the store and buy fresh things and then go home and cook the same thing every day, walk back and forth, buy the things and come back.” P12 |
Household chores occupy the whole day
| ||
“I’m tired and afraid. Life in Sweden is stressful! There is always something emerging.” P18–19 |
Always having something to do is stressful
|
Life filled with chores and no spare time
|
Life in Sweden
|
“And all this stress, the sugar levels start because we have not adapted to this country. As a result you get health issues.” K3 |
Hard to adapt to a new life
| ||
“The house work takes most of the time and energy.” P12 |
Household chores takes all energy
| ||
“It is difficult for a single mother and if maybe the kids’ father lives with her she might get some help”. L15 |
Maybe help if the spouses are living together
| ||
“I went to school this morning, and when I finish I will pick up the children from school. When my husband comes home I will leave again for an appointment at the school with the teacher, even though I have other things needing to be done.” K3 |
A structured life with many appointments
| ||
“The little time we have to ourselves we go for tea to somebody’s house and we take tea with a lot of sugar.” K7 |
Spare time is spent drinking tea
|
Traditional culture prevails
| |
“We cannot leave our cultural background with regard to food.” L7 |
Traditional food is consumed
| ||
“The household chores and the kids, where would I get time for physical activity? The walks and movements that I do are enough.” K8 |
Physical activity doing household chores
|
No further need to move
| |
“As a mother with full-time activity there is no spare time, my schedule is packed. I am very tired cooking, washing etc. I do not need any physical activity.” K7 |
Full-time activity taking care of the house
|
Meaning units | Code | Category | Theme |
---|---|---|---|
“We believe in God, he is the one who grants health.” K4* |
Health is a gift from God
|
Faith in God
|
Health
|
“We have thick skin; the sun can penetrate through our skin.” L12* |
The sun can penetrate our skin
|
Misconceptions
| |
“My mother used to drink juice with plenty of sugar and tea with a lot of sugar. In Somalia you burnt the calories so my mother had good health.” L14 |
Good health despite high intake of sugar
| ||
“If I take a walk outside or go to some activity and jump and sweat, my blood circulation and everything works and health also comes.” L4 |
Jump and sweat is healthy
|
Enhancing health
| |
“If I do not work out for a long time I cannot even sleep.” L8 |
Bad sleep due to no movement
| ||
“If gyms are mixed men and women we cannot go, but if the gym is for women only, we could go.” L8 |
Gym for women only is a must
|
Facilitators
|
Physical activity
|
“If somebody ‘holds your hand’ supports you and motivates you, you walk!” K16 |
Support is motivational for walking
| ||
“I love swimming but my religion does not allow men to mix with men.” K12 |
Religion does not allow mixing with men
|
Factors affecting physical activity
| |
“It is winter and it’s too cold to walk, and it’s dark.” P10* |
Restrained from walking due to a cold and dark environment
| ||
“To get dressed and walk alone I see as the most boring thing ever!” K15 |
Walking is boring
| ||
“I have the chance to work out, but we Somalis would choose to go to a friend’s house and drink tea with a lot of sugar and chat. There are health benefits in chatting too.” L16 |
Chatting takes priority over a workout
|
Ethical considerations
Results
Summary of results
Life in Somalia and life in Sweden
“You have family there [in Somalia] that can help you. But here [in Sweden] there is nobody helping you because the family is not here”.
“Lifestyle here is like herding goats: taking kids to school, going to work, bringing them back, and preparing a meal. Where does a mother get time to go to the gym?”
Understanding and enhancing health
“I think the mind needs conversation, a cup of tea, dates and Somali sweets.”
“The sauna is a hot place and if you sit there for a long time you sweat a lot, and sugar and fat and toxins come out of your body.”
“The Somalis love tablets, even if the doctor says the best medicine for blood pressure is walking, and making the body sweat, and eating a lot of vegetables, we just love medication, it does not matter what part of the body is aching”.
Facilitators and barriers to physical activity
“Unless we force ourselves it is not in our mind to walk.”
“We make very sweet cakes or cookies, sit facing each other and that is what the majority of us do.”
“I would personally need somebody helping with the chores or go to a health camp Somali Biggest Losers.” [Like the Swedish television show, Biggest Loser]
“Nowadays, I usually think why should I get dressed and go outside if I do not need to go and buy milk like I did in Somalia every day.”