Does acculturation affect the dietary intakes and body weight status of children of immigrants in the U.S. and other developed countries? A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Objective: This paper reviews available studies on the relationship between acculturation and obesity among children of immigrants who have at least one foreign-born parent.

Methods: A systematic review of relevant studies was undertaken using PubMed, Web of Science, and PsychInfo.

Results: The initial search identified 1317 potentially relevant publications, of which 21 were retained after three rounds of screening. Most studies were conducted in the U.S. The majority of studies used BMI or overweight/obesity prevalence as the outcome variable, while two studies used dietary intake. Three studies used standardized acculturation scales, while most of the studies used generation, duration of residency in host country, and language as proxy measures of acculturation. The relationship between acculturation and outcomes varied between the host countries and origin countries for children of immigrants.

Conclusion: This study suggests children of immigrants with different cultural backgrounds may interact with host countries to varying degrees, ultimately influencing their diet behaviours and body weight status. Researchers are encouraged to adopt standardized acculturation scales to compare the results across countries and populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Acculturation
• acculturation scale
• immigration
• children
• BMI
• diet

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Theoretically, it is more reliable to use a standardized acculturation scale to measure acculturation, but most of the standardized scales are not designed for or applicable to young children.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China Medical Board (Grant Number 12-111) under a Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy seed grant, the 111 Project (Grant Number B16031) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child and Human Development under grant number R01HD064685-01A1.