Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the association between acculturation and BMI among Asian Americans using multiple measures of acculturation. Data of 847 Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese recruited for a health education program in Maryland during 2009 to 2010 were used. Acculturation was measured by the short version of Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA) and its individual components. Height and weight were measured by trained staff. Multiple linear regressions were used to estimate the association between acculturation and BMI. After adjusting for age, gender, education, income, marital status, and ethnicity, SL-ASIA (β = 0.71, SE = 0.28), having education in the US (β = 0.56, SE = 0.28), younger age of arrival (0–5 years: β = 3.32, SE = 0.76, 6–10 years: β = 1.55, SE = 0.78), self identified as Americans (β = 1.51, SE = 0.77) and equal preference of Asian/American food in restaurants (β = 0.92, SE = 0.28) were significantly associated with increased BMI. The association between acculturation and BMI was stronger among men than women, strongest among Chinese and weakest among Vietnamese. Acculturation was moderately associated with increased BMI among Asian Americans and this association varied by measures of acculturation. The association of acculturation and BMI was moderated by sex and ethnicity groups.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Ogden, C. L., & Curtin, L. R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999–2008. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 303(3), 235–241.
Wang, Y., & Beydoun, M. A. (2007). The obesity epidemic in the United States–gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Epidemiologic Reviews, 29, 6–28.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). The surgeon general’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity. Rockville: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General.
Barnes, J. S., & Bennet, C. E. (2002). The Asian population: 2000. Census 2000 brief. DC: Washington.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2009). 2009 American Community Survey: Maryland. Available at: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=309&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US24&-format=&-_lang=en. Accessed March 10, 2011.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). 2000 American Community Survey. Supplementary Survey Summary tables: Maryland. Available at: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_C2SS_EST_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_C2SS_EST_G2000_P001&-mt_name=ACS_C2SS_EST_G2000_P002&-tree_id=700&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US24&-geo_id=NBSP&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en. Accessed March 10, 2011.
Barnes, P. M., Adams, P. F., & Powell-Griner, E. (2008). Health characteristics of the Asian adult population: United States, 2004–2006. Advance Data, 22(394), 1–22.
Salabarria-Pena, Y., Trout, P. T., Gill, J. K., Morisky, D. E., Muralles, A. A., & Ebin, V. J. (2001). Effects of acculturation and psychosocial factors in Latino adolescents’ TB-related behaviors. Ethnicity and Disease, 11(4), 661–675.
Salant, T., & Lauderdale, D. S. (2003). Measuring culture: A critical review of acculturation and health in Asian immigrant populations. Social Science and Medicine, 57(1), 71–90.
Suinn, R. M., Suinn, R. M., Rickard-Figueroa, K., Lew, S., & Vigil, P. (1987). The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity acculturation scale: An initial report. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47(2), 401–407.
Tata, S. P., & Leong, F. T. L. (1994). Individualism–collectivism, social-network orientation, and acculturation as predictors of attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Chinese Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41(3), 280–287.
Atkinson, D. R., & Gim, R. H. (1989). Asian-American cultural identity and attitudes toward mental health services. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36(2), 209–212.
Lese, K. P., & Robbins, S. B. (1994). Relationship between goal attributes and the academic achievement of southeast Asian adolescent refugees. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41(1), 45–52.
Barcenas, C. H., Wilkinson, A. V., Strom, S. S., et al. (2007). Birthplace, years of residence in the United States, and obesity among Mexican-American adults. Obesity (Silver Spring), 15(4), 1043–1052.
Wolin, K. Y., Colangelo, L. A., Chiu, B. C., & Gapstur, S. M. (2009). Obesity and immigration among Latina women. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 11(5), 428–431.
Novotny, R., Williams, A. E., Vinoya, A. C., Oshiro, C. E., & Vogt, T. M. (2009). U.S. acculturation, food intake, and obesity among Asian-Pacific hotel workers. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(10), 1712–1718.
Roshania, R., Narayan, K. M., & Oza-Frank, R. (2008). Age at arrival and risk of obesity among US immigrants. Obesity (Silver Spring), 16(12), 2669–2675.
Lauderdale, D. S., & Rathouz, P. J. (2000). Body mass index in a US national sample of Asian Americans: Effects of nativity, years since immigration and socioeconomic status. International Journal of Obesity, 24(9), 1188–1194.
Yeh, M. C., Fahs, M., Shelley, D., Yerneni, R., Parikh, N. S., & Burton, D. (2009). Body weight and length of residence in the US among Chinese Americans. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 11(5), 422–427.
Park, S. Y., Murphy, S. P., Sharma, S., & Kolonel, L. N. (2005). Dietary intakes and health-related behaviours of Korean American women born in the USA and Korea: The multiethnic cohort study. Public Health Nutrition, 8(7), 904–911.
Lee, S. K. (2008). Acculturation, meal frequency, eating-out, and body weight in Korean Americans. Nutrition Research and Practice, 2(4), 269–274.
Song, Y. J., Hofstetter, C. R., Hovell, M. F., et al. (2004). Acculturation and health risk behaviors among Californians of Korean descent. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39(1), 147–156.
Gorber, S. C., Tremblay, M., Moher, D., & Gorber, B. (2007). A comparison of direct versus self-report measures for assessing height, weight and body mass index: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews, 8(4), 307–326.
Stewart, A. W., Jackson, R. T., Ford, M. A., & Beaglehole, R. (1987). Underestimation of relative weight by use of self-reported height and weight. American Journal of Epidemiology, 125(1), 122–126.
Hofstetter, C. R., Hovell, M. F., Jung, K. R., Raman, R., Irvin, V., & Ni, R. (2007). The first puff: Forces in smoking initiation among Californians of Korean descent. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 9(12), 1277–1286.
Ayers, J. W., Hofstetter, C. R., Usita, P., Irvin, V. L., Kang, S., & Hovell, M. F. (2009). Sorting out the competing effects of acculturation, immigrant stress, and social support on depression: A report on Korean women in California. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197(10), 742–747.
Hofstetter, C. R., Hovell, M. F., Lee, J., et al. (2004). Tobacco use and acculturation among Californians of Korean descent: A behavioral epidemiological analysis. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 6(3), 481–489.
Cho, J., & Juon, H. S. (2006). Assessing overweight and obesity risk among Korean Americans in California using world health organization body mass index criteria for Asians. Preventing Chronic Disease, 3(3), A79.
Kim, M. J., Lee, S. J., Ahn, Y. H., Bowen, P., & Lee, H. (2007). Dietary acculturation and diet quality of hypertensive Korean Americans. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 58(5), 436–445.
Yang, W., & Read, M. (1996). Dietary pattern changes of Asian immigrants. Nutrition Research, 16(8), 1277–1293.
Lv, N., & Cason, K. L. (2004). Dietary pattern change and acculturation of Chinese Americans in Pennsylvania. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 104(5), 771–778.
Lee, S. K., Sobal, J., & Frongillo, E. A., Jr. (2000). Acculturation and health in Korean Americans. Social Science and Medicine, 51(2), 159–173.
Yates, A., Edman, J., & Aruguete, M. (2004). Ethnic differences in BMI and body/self-dissatisfaction among Whites, Asian subgroups, Pacific Islanders, and African-Americans. Journal of Adolescent Health, 34(4), 300–307.
Oza-Frank, R., & Narayan, K. M. (2009). Effect of length of residence on overweight by region of birth and age at arrival among US immigrants. Public Health Nutrition, 13(6), 868–875.
Do, H. H., Taylor, V. M., Yasui, Y., Jackson, J. C., & Tu, S. P. (2001). Cervical cancer screening among Chinese immigrants in Seattle, Washington. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 3(1), 15–21.
Chen, X., Unger, J. B., Cruz, T. B., & Johnson, C. A. (1999). Smoking patterns of Asian-American youth in California and their relationship with acculturation. Journal of Adolescent Health, 24(5), 321–328.
Gonzalez, A. (2003). The education and wages of immigrant children: The impact of age at arrival. Economics of Education Review, 22(2), 203–212.
Schaafsma, J., & Sweetman, A. (2001). Immigrant Earnings: Age at Immigration Matters. Canadian Journal of Economics, 34(4), 1066–1099.
Stevens, G. (1999). Age at immigration and second language proficiency among Foreign-Born adults. Language in Society, 28(4), 555–578.
Hunt, L. M., Schneider, S., & Comer, B. (2004). Should “acculturation” be a variable in health research? A critical review of research on US Hispanics. Social Science and Medicine, 59(5), 973–986.
Acknowledgments
This study is part of the Asian American Liver Cancer Education Program funded by National Cancer Institute, R25CA129042.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, L., Juon, HS. & Lee, S. Acculturation and BMI Among Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese Adults. J Community Health 37, 539–546 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9476-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9476-1