Asian Americans and Obesity in California: A Protective Effect of Biculturalism

Prior studies comparing US-born and foreign-born Asian Americans have shown that birth in the US conveys greater risk of obesity. Our study investigates whether retention of Asian culture might be protective for obesity despite acculturation to US lifestyle. We classified self-identified Asian Ameri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of immigrant and minority health 2011-04, Vol.13 (2), p.276-283
Main Authors: Wang, Sophia, Quan, Judy, Kanaya, Alka M, Fernandez, Alicia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Adult
Asian American people
Asian Americans
Behavior
Behavior Change
Behavior Modification
Biculturalism
Body Mass Index
California - epidemiology
Comparative Law
Cultural heritage
Culture
English
epidemiology
Ethnic Groups
Ethnicity
Exercise
Female
Fruits
Health behavior
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Immigrants
Internal Medicine
International & Foreign Law
Language
Language Aptitude
Lifestyle
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Minority & ethnic groups
Noncitizens
Obesity
Obesity - ethnology
Original Paper
Overweight
Physical fitness
Population
Poverty
Private International Law
Public Health
Retention
Self report
Smoking - ethnology
Socioeconomic Factors
Sociology
Studies
Telephone Surveys
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Summary:Prior studies comparing US-born and foreign-born Asian Americans have shown that birth in the US conveys greater risk of obesity. Our study investigates whether retention of Asian culture might be protective for obesity despite acculturation to US lifestyle. We classified self-identified Asian American respondents of the California Health Interview Survey as traditional, bicultural, and acculturated using nativity and language proficiency in English and Asian language. We then examined the association of acculturation with overweight/obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) in a multivariate regression model. Acculturated respondents had higher adjusted odds of being overweight/obese than bicultural respondents (2.13 [1.40-3.23] for men, 3.28 [2.14-5.04] for women), but bicultural respondents had similar odds of being overweight/obese as traditional respondents (.98 [.69-1.41] for men, .72 [.50-1.05] for women). Among the bicultural, second and first generation respondents were equally likely to be overweight/obese. Biculturalism in Asian Americans as measured by Asian language retention appears protective against obesity. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying this association.
ISSN:1557-1912
1557-1920
DOI:10.1007/s10903-010-9426-5