Festival Foods in the Immigrant Diet

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 953 - 960
• Main Authors: Azar, Kristen M. J., Chen, Edith, Holland, Ariel T., Palaniappan, Latha P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer Science + Business Media 01.10.2013; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acculturation; Anniversaries and Special Events; Asian Americans; Carbohydrates; Chronic illnesses; Comparative Law; Coronary Disease - etiology; Culture; Diabetes; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Proteins - administration & dosage; Emigrants and Immigrants; Energy Intake - ethnology; Ethnicity; Fast food; Feeding Behavior - ethnology; Female; Festivals; Food; Food habits; Health behavior; Health risks; Health Status Disparities; Healthy food; Humans; Immigrants; International & Foreign Law; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases - etiology; Minority & ethnic groups; Noncitizens; Obesity; Obesity - ethnology; Obesity - etiology; Private International Law; Public Health; Racial Identification; REVIEW PAPER; Social life & customs; Social research; Sociology; Statistical analysis; Studies; Traditions; United States > US; Obesity; Behavior; Diet; Dietary acculturation; Health disparities
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-012-9705-4

Dietary acculturation for immigrant groups has largely been attributed to the “Westernization” of indigenous diets, as characterized by an increased consumption of unhealthy American foods (i.e., fast foods, hamburgers). However, acculturation and adoption of western dietary habits may not fully explain new dietary patterns among racial/ethnic minority immigrants. The immigrant diet may change in such a way that it elaborates on specific ethnic traditions in addition to the incorporation of Western food habits. In this paper, we explore the role that festival foods, those foods that were once eaten a few times a year and on special occasions, play in the regular diet of immigrants to the US. This paper will focus on the overconsumption of ethnic festival foods, which are often high in carbohydrates, animal protein, sugar and fat, as opposed to Western “junk” food, as an explanation for the increased risk of cardiometabolic disorders among new immigrant groups.