Cultural Pressure Encourages Poor Eating Habits In Immigrants

KQED:

People who immigrate to the United States from traditionally healthy cultures usually develop Western disease patterns within one or two generations. Since genetic changes cannot occur this rapidly, environmental factors, particularly diet, are considered to be primary the reason for the shift.

While it has been proposed that dietary changes are the result of having access to less healthy foods, new research suggests that poor food choices are often made not from preference but from pressure to fit in as an American.

In a new study to be published in the upcoming issue of Psychological Science, researchers from Stanford and UC Berkeley explored the eating choices made by Asian-American and white college students when put in situations that threaten their American identity.

Read more: KQED