Abstract
Background
Epidemiological studies have described an “acculturation paradox.” Increased acculturation
to the United States is associated with increased consumption of dietary fat and decreased
consumption of fruits/vegetables.
Objective
To expand understanding of the dietary acculturation paradox, this study examined
how bicultural Mexican-American women construct ethnic identity and how these identities
and identity-making processes relate to perceptions of health and nutrition.
Design
We utilized embedded mixed methods (in-depth interviews; survey).
Participants/setting
We analyzed a purposive sample of English-speaking Mexican-American women aged 18
to 29 years (n=24) in rural California to assess ethnic identity and diet beliefs.
Results
Participants described food as central to expressing cultural identity, usually in
terms of family interactions. Mexican food traditions were characterized as unhealthy;
many preferred American foods, which were seen as healthier. Specifically, Mexican-American
women perceived Mexican patterns of food preparation and consumption as unhealthy.
In addition, traditional Mexican foods described as unhealthy were once considered
special-occasion foods. Among the participants who expressed a desire to eat healthfully,
to do so meant to reject Mexican ways of eating.
Conclusions
This study raises questions about the nature of the “dietary acculturation paradox.”
While food—the eating of Mexican foods—is central to the maintenance of ethnic identity
throughout acculturation, negative perceptions about the healthfulness of Mexican
foods introduce tension into Mexican-American women’s self-identification. This study
suggests a subtle contradiction that may help to explain the dietary acculturation
paradox: While previous research has suggested that as Mexicans acculturate to the
United States they adopt unhealthy diets, this study finds evidence that they do so
at least in part due to perceptions that American diets are healthier than Mexican
diets. Implications for interventions to improve Latinos’ diets include an emphasis
on the family and use of Spanish linguistic cues. Finally, messages that simply advocate
for “traditional” diets should be reconsidered because that message is discordant
with perceptions of the healthfulness of such foods.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012.JAMA. 2014; 311: 806
- It is hard to swim upstream: Dietary acculturation among Mexican-origin children.Popul Res Policy Rev. 2016; 35: 177-196
- Is socioeconomic incorporation associated with a healthier diet? Dietary patterns among Mexican-origin children in the United States.Soc Sci Med. 2015; 147: 20-29
- Dietary acculturation: Applications to nutrition research and dietetics.J Am Diet Assoc. 2002; 102: 1105-1118
- Food is fundamental, fun, frightening, and far-reaching.Soc Res (New York). 1999; 66 (Accessed November 24, 2017.): 9-30
- Language use affects food behaviours and food values among Mexican-origin adults in the USA.Public Health Nutr. 2015; 18: 264-274
- Country of birth and language are uniquely associated with intakes of fat, fiber, and fruits and vegetables among Mexican-American women in the United States.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 473-480
- Acculturation and its association with health-risk behaviors in a rural Latina population.Ethn Dis. 2005; 15: 733-739
- Dietary behaviors of a racially and ethnically diverse sample of overweight and obese Californians.Heal Educ Behav. 2012; 39: 737-744
- Food acculturation drives dietary differences among Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Non-Hispanic whites.J Nutr. 2011; 141: 1898-1906
- Acculturation, nutrition, and health disparities in Latinos.Am J Clin Nutr. 2011; 93: 1163S-1167S
- A systematic review of the relationship between acculturation and diet among Latinos in the United States: Implications for future research.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1330-1344
- Lifecourse, immigrant status and acculturation in food purchasing and preparation among low-income mothers.Public Health Nutr. 2007; 10: 396-404
- Tracing immigrant identity through the plate and the palate.Lat Stud. 2012; 10: 334-354
- Hispanic immigrant women’s perspective on healthy foods and the New York City retail food environment: A mixed-method study.Soc Sci Med. 2011; 73: 13-21
- A qualitative study of acculturation and diabetes risk among urban immigrant Latinas: Implications for diabetes prevention efforts.Diabetes Educ. 2014; 40: 616-625
- Correlates of food patterns in young Latino children at high risk of obesity.Public Health Nutr. 2017; 18: 3042-3050
- A Tortilla Is like Life: Food and Culture in the San Luis Valley of Colorado.University of Texas Press, Austin, TX2009
- Contextualizing the immigrant experience: The role of food and foodways in identity maintenance and formation for first- and second-generation Latinos in Ithaca, New York.Ecol Food Nutr. 2015; 54: 57-73
- Factors influencing food preparation behaviours: Findings from focus groups with Mexican-American mothers in southern California.Public Health Nutr. 2015; : 1-10
- Weight-loss interventions for Hispanic populations: The role of culture.J Obes. 2013; 2013: 542736
Colby SL, Ortman JM. Projections of the Size and Composition of the US Population: 2014 to 2060. Washington, DC; 2015. http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p25-1143.html. Accessed November 24, 2017.
- Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research.Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA2011
- Mixed-methods research in nutrition and dietetics.J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017; 117: 683-697
- An introduction to qualitative research for food and nutrition professionals.J Am Diet Assoc. 2009; 109: 80-90
- The role of theory in developing effective health communications.J Commun. 2006; 56: 1-17
- The role of identity in acculturation among immigrant people: Theoretical propositions, empirical questions, and applied recommendations.Hum Dev. 2006; 49: 1-30
- Conceptual approaches to acculturation.in: Chun K.M. Balls Organista P.E. Marín G.E. Acculturation: Advances in Theory, Measurement, and Applied Research. American Psychological Association, 2003: 17-37
- Links between race/ethnicity and cultural values as mediated by racial/ethnic identity and moderated by gender.J Pers Soc Psychol. 1997; 72: 1460-1476
- A new familism scale for use with Latino populations.Hisp J Behav Sci. 2003; 25: 312-330
- The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with adolescents and young adults from diverse groups.J Adolesc Res. 1992; 7: 156-176
- Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions.J Couns Psychol. 2007; 54: 271-281
- Biculturalism and Context: What Is Biculturalism, and When Is It Adaptive?: Commentary on Mistry and Wu.Hum Dev. 2010; 53: 26-32
- Report P-3: State and County Population Projections by Race/Ethnicity, Detailed Age, and Gender, 2010-2060.Sacramento, CA, 2014 (Accessed May 3, 2017.)
- Survey language preference as a predictor of meeting fruit and vegetable objectives among Hispanic adults in the United States, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2009.Prev Chronic Dis. 2011; 8 (Accessed May 3, 2017.): A133
- Association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and proxies of acculturation among U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic white adults.Am J Heal Promot. 2016; 30: 357-364
- A method of analysing interview transcripts in qualitative research.Nurse Educ Today. 1991; 11: 461-466
- Analyzing Social Settings.Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, CA2006
- How people interpret healthy eating: Contributions of qualitative research.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012; 44: 282-301
- Achieving integration in mixed methods designs—Principles and practices.Health Serv Res. 2013; 48: 2134-2156
- Hispanic familism and acculturation: What changes and what doesn’t?.Hisp J Behav Sci. 1987; 9: 397-412
- Festival foods in the immigrant diet.J Immigr Minor Heal. 2013; 15: 953-960
- Tamales or timbales: Cuisine and the formation of Mexican national identity, 1821–1911.Americas (Engl ed). 1996; 53: 193-216
- The social life of the tortilla: Food, cultural politics, and contested commodification.Agric Human Values. 2004; 21: 47-60
- In our country tortilla doesn’t make us fat: Cultural factors influencing lifestyle goal-setting for overweight and obese urban, Latina patients.J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2014; 25: 1603-1622
- The nutrition transition: Worldwide obesity dynamics and their determinants.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004; 28: S2-S9
- Dietary acculturation and the nutrition transition: An overview.Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2010; 35: 219-223
- Reconsidering acculturation in dietary change research among Latino immigrants: Challenging the preconditions of US migration.Ethn Health. 2013; 18: 115-135
- The impact of familism on physical and mental health among Hispanics in the United States.Health Psychol Rev. 2014; 8: 95-127
- Effects of ethnic targeting on the perceived effectiveness of cancer prevention messages among Latinas and non-Latina white women.J Health Commun. 2013; 18: 1256-1273
Esquibel CR, Calvo L. Decolonize your diet: A manifesto. Nineteen sixty nine: An ethnic studies journal 2013;2(1):1-5. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wb1d2t6#page-2. Accessed April 3, 2017.
- John J St. Seasoning for the soul: Empowerment through food preparation among Mexican Women in the Texas colonias.Food Foodways. 2011; 19: 228-247
Biography
A. S. Ramírez is an assistant professor, School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of California, Merced, California.
Biography
T. Golash-Boza is a professor, School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of California, Merced, California.
Biography
J. B. Unger is a professor, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
Biography
L. Baezconde-Garbanati is a professor, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 28, 2017
Accepted:
October 11,
2017
Received:
May 8,
2017
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute under Award No. K01CA190659. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
