Determinants of Latina obesity in the United States: the role of selective acculturation

J Transcult Nurs. 2009 Jan;20(1):105-15. doi: 10.1177/1043659608325846.

Abstract

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Hispanic American women in particular have higher rates of obesity than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. In this article, the authors review the existing literature on acculturation as it relates to obesity and health behaviors among U.S. Hispanic women. In addition, a conceptual framework is proposed to examine factors contributing to obesity through "selective acculturation." This concept challenges traditionally held unilateral assumptions that underscore Hispanic women's unhealthful behavioral patterns by explaining a process whereby Hispanic women both maintain some older health-related behaviors and acquire new ones once they settle in a new culture.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acculturation*
  • Body Mass Index
  • Exercise
  • Feeding Behavior / ethnology
  • Hispanic or Latino*
  • Humans
  • Latin America / ethnology
  • Life Style / ethnology*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Obesity / ethnology*
  • Risk Factors
  • United States / epidemiology