Grace Whitbeck

11 November 2017

PSYC of Food and Eating

Levens

Obesity Model & Immigration: a Bio-psycho-social Perspective

Obesity is a developing epidemic, variable to each country’s culture, diet, and food

availability as well as each individual’s biological make-up, family traditions, education, and

socio-economic status. Through this essay, I will analyze the prevalence and risk for obesity

among immigrant populations from a biological, psychological, and social perspective.

Firstly, looking from a biological lens, evidence is shown for different levels of risks for

obesity among different ethnic groups. Broadly speaking, Hao and Kim (2009) record statistics

of obesity among each racial group in America, noting significant disparities in the population,

with 40% of blacks, 33% of Mexicans, and 29% of non-hispanic whites showing obese BMIs (p.

238). A similar study comparing English and American immigrants also notes a greater

prevalence of obesity within marginalized populations, however, differences are marked between

individuals of an ethnic minority who are born in the US compared with those who are foreign

born. According to Martinson and Brooks-Gunn (2012), children of foreign born descent have a

greater risk for obesity than minority children born in the US (p. 233). Regardless, both findings

place minorities at a disadvantage to maintaining a healthy weight. No evidence was found

suggesting that any one race has a significantly greater advantage in their metabolism and food

processing, however, many other factors such as socioeconomic status, education, cultural

differences, and the social implications of migration should be looked at the further explain the

complexities of high obesity among minority populations.

 It is assumed that lower socioeconomic status implies a higher BMI in America’s

backwards food system in which unhealthy food is the most affordable. However, variances are

shown to surface among minority populations, indicating a less significant relationship between

BMI and socioeconomic status than primarily understood. Hao and Kim (2009) describe a

phenomenon in which people in deep poverty are most likely underweight and people of

moderate income are most likely obese because they have enough money to purchase fast food

but no resources for medical insurance (p. 240). From the same article, low income

neighborhoods were specifically studied and seen to be targeted by fast food and alcohol

advertising, also giving way to greater rates of obesity. However, mostly assumed in early stages

of migration from a poor country to the US, higher income migrants might be at a higher risk for

obesity because they are now experiencing access to food that they didn’t have in their native

country. Such data is supported by Martinson and Btooks-Gunn’s (2012) article that found

socioeconomic status to serve as less than the main factor for immigrant obesity due to each

culture’s native perception of weight (p. 234). For example, some cultures believe being

overweight is healthy and displays high status, thus, when living in a country where food is

highly accessible, the risk for obesity increases no matter the family’s socioeconomic status.

That brings us to a psycho-social understanding of obesity among immigrants. Among all

three articles, authors agree on the claim that migrants tend to enter the US with a lower BMI,

and certain factors combine to increase their BMI and erode the health of immigrant populations.

Firstly, understanding the decline of migrant health as they enter the US can be best understood

after examining the five food models offered by Hao and Kim (2009). The first stage is hunting

and gathering, the second stage is a pre-industrial state, the third stage is that which occurs after

a receding famine and includes widespread consumption of fruits, vegetables, and animal
protein, the fourth stage is a western diet of high saturated fat, sugar, refined foods, low fiber,

low physical activity, and high obesity, and the fifth and final nutrition patter is the institutional

and individual efforts of developing a lifestyle that prolongs health (p. 241). Applying this

model to countries, the third model of body composition includes Asian (immigrant sending)

countries such as India and China, the fourth model describes the US and recent shifts in Latin

America, and the fifth model explains emerging trends among the select educated few in

America who are trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Furthermore, applying this model to

people, as a person moves from a country of the third nutritional pattern to the United States (a

country of the fourth nutritional pattern) there is a major change in diet (for the worse) that

occurs. Even so, with Latin American migrants, although these individuals are moving to and

from two countries of the same stage, the US has been developing as a stage four country for

longer, and thus produces a more widespread unhealthy diet than Latin American stage four

countries. Looking at this outline of diet, it is easier to understand the major diet changes that US

immigrants must undergo and why they suddenly develop a high risk of obesity.

As we see from the nutritional patterns above, countries in the third pattern have a much

healthier diet filled with essential nutrients. The most tragic phenomenon, however, is that US

immigrants from stage 3 countries are very quick to shift to an unhealthy American diet in order

to fit in, leaving their culture and their health behind. Guendelman, Cheryan, and Monin (2011),

conducted an experiment on mostly Asian and some Latin American immigrants to analyze any

changes in eating when their role in an American society is challenged. If an immigrant’s

American identity was challenged, they seemed to be more likely to claim to enjoy more

stereotypical American (unhealthy) foods and 182 more calories and 12 more grams of sugar are

consumed (p. 959). Likewise, a common trend is displayed among children of immigrants to
complain about having to eat their native foods in front of their friends. Understanding the

hardship of migrating to a new country, these actions of acculturation can be recognized as a

desire to fit in that overwhelms and supersedes any initial importance or awareness of healthy

weight, thus explaining the higher risk for obesity among immigrants.

Furthermore, now that it is evident that obesity is an increasing issue among immigrant

populations in the US, more must be done to aid the population. On one level, the American food

system should be convicted to shift away from advertising for vulnerable populations to purchase

fast food; fast food will ultimately create health problems and these populations have no medical

insurance to cover them. In Sargent and Larchanché’s article (2011), hypertension, diabetes, and

other chronic diseases correlated with obesity are discussed as the authors emphasize an

importance to understand the individual’s food beliefs and culture in order to offer the most

appropriate health education and dietary advice (p. 354). In this way, it is proposed to preserve

the native culture of each American immigrant and provide culturally appropriate care in order to

further understand beneficial and harmful nutrition patterns and reduce any barriers between

patient compliance and good clinical practices.

In the same article, heart disease is addressed as a “disease of modernization” most

prevalent among immigrants. Considering the high prevalence of such chronic conditions in

migrants, a “healthy immigrant effect” is recognized, meaning individuals who have recently

migrated to America seem to be in better health than Americans, but their health significantly

dwindles over time with the conditions of the country and change in livelihood (Sargent &

Larchanché, 2011, p. 355). With such evidence of an obvious health disadvantage among

immigrants, Flecha, García, and Rudd (2011) examine the link between illiteracy and health

consequences. In the application of a health literacy innovation, the European Union attempts to
overcome social and health inequalities through education (p. 209). Education was seen to be

ineffective when the specific needs of the immigrants were ignored and the cultural knowledge

that immigrants have acquired is unrecognized. Likewise, programs that created supportive

environments held a great impact on the development of migrant communities, produced great

dialogue about health education, allowed immigrants to reflect upon health issues and discuss

participation in the healthy food program, and families who participated in eye exams, dental

health, and vaccinations were seen to take better care of their children (Flecha, García, & Rudd,

2011, p. 214). The most pivotal aspect of the innovation described above is the community

development element of health promotion; the community-based approach offers insight into

what immigrants need and seems to be more effective in ensuring a positive response from the

participants. Such community development not only helps as a direct health initiative, but

indirectly improves the psychological and social well-being of an immigrant by providing an

area of support in their new lives, which may also aid in the preservation and validation of their

native culture and diet.

Finally, in researching possible innovations against the American diet of high saturated

fats and sugar, a study by Mytton, Gray, Rayner, & Rutter (2007) examines the effectiveness of

taxing food high in saturated fat and deemed unhealthy by the SSCg3d nutrition scoring system

(p. 689). Results show that only taxing foods high in saturated fat is unlikely to reduce

cardiovascular disease in a population because of a responsive rise in salt consumption, however,

the taxation of a wider range of foods deemed unhealthy can overt between 2300 and 3200

deaths per year (Mytton, Gray, Rayner, & Rutter, 2007, p. 689). Therefore, if correctly targeted

foods are taxed, a likely decrease in the consumption of so much fat might result. However, the

above study occurred in the UK, and the application of such an innovation may not be
transferable to the US because of the high demand for cheap fast food. Economical pressure

indeed creates the fastest social change, as discussed in class, however, when the economical

system is as central to the American population as it is, and the point of interest for dietary

concerns is vulnerable populations and immigrants, such a shift in the price of food may prove to

be immediately detrimental to low socioeconomic families although there would be a reliable

health benefit long-term.

It is unclear whether or not fat taxation could prove to be beneficial without an

American-based study similar to the one above, however, it is supported through my findings

that community-based efforts offer the most beneficial and productive health innovations. Such

an approach encourages the social well-being of immigrants and preserves their native culture

and diets by relieving the pressure to fit in to American standards, more effectively shifts their

psychological understanding of a health practitioner’s role and steps that may be taken to prevent

obesity and chronic disease, and offers biological benefits as well with a source of available

health care.
 References

Flecha, A., García, R., & Rudd, R. (2011). Using Health Literacy in School to Overcome

Inequalities. European Journal of Education,46(2), 209-218. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41231572

Guendelman, M., Cheryan, S., & Monin, B. (2011). Fitting In but Getting Fat: Identity Threat

and Dietary Choices Among U.S. Immigrant Groups. Psychological Science, 22(7), 959-

967. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25835482

Hao, L., & Kim, J. (2009). Immigration and the American Obesity Epidemic. The International

Migration Review, 43(2), 237-262. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20681705

MARTINSON, M., McLANAHAN, S., & BROOKS-GUNN, J. (2012). Race/Ethnic and

Nativity Disparities in Child Overweight in the United States and England. The Annals of

the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 643, 219-238. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23316166

Mytton, O., Gray, A., Rayner, M., & Rutter, H. (2007). EVIDENCE BASED PUBLIC HEALTH

POLICY AND PRACTICE: Could targeted food taxes improve health? Journal of

Epidemiology and Community Health (1979-), 61(8), 689-694. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40666136

Sargent, C., & Larchanché, S. (2011). Transnational Migration and Global Health: The

Production and Management of Risk, Illness, and Access to Care. Annual Review of

Anthropology, 40, 345-361. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41287737