Chinese Female Marriage Immigrants' Dietary Life after Immigration to Korea : Comparison between Han-Chinese and Korean-Chinese / 대한지역사회영양학회지

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate Chinese female marriage immigrants' dietary life after immigration to Korea, focusing on comparison between Han-Chinese (traditional Chinese) and Korean-Chinese (Chinese of Korean descent). METHODS: An in-person survey was conducted with women married to Korean men, having one child or more aged 1-6 years old, and having resided in Korea for at least one year before the survey. The data were collected from the 309 respondents comprising 151 Han-Chinese and 158 Korean-Chinese in the summer of 2013. RESULTS: Overall, there was no significant difference in dietary practice, dietary acculturation, dietary behavior, dietary habits, and food intake between the Han-Chinese and the Korean-Chinese respondents. Over 50% of the respondents ate Korean food every day. The overall level of dietary acculturation was about 3.5 out of 5 points. The average score of healthy dietary behavior was a little bit higher than 3 out of 5 points. Approximately 3/4 of the respondents showed increasing frequency of eating out. The respondents reporting increase food diversity were over 70%. Decreased frequency of skipping meal was about 60% of the respondents. Over 50% of the respondents showed increasing consumption of Kimchi, vegetables, fruit, and meat. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary life of Korean-Chinese female marriage immigrants was similar to that of Han-Chinese female marriage immigrants after immigration to Korea. The results from this study suggest that not only Han-Chinese but also Korean-Chinese should be targeted in various diet-related acculturation support programs as important multicultural populations in Korea.

A literature review of dietary accultaration in Asian Americans

The overall goal of this literature review is to promote a better understanding of the construct of dietary acculturation in recent years and how it affects the dietary intake of Asian-American population. Four databases were searched simultaneously: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline, Pub Medical, and Journals at OVID. The key terms used in the search were Asian-Americans, dietary practices, eating habits, and dietary acculturation. A total of seven articles were relevant and met the inclusion criteria. The findings from these studies of dietary acculturation in Asian Americans are generally in agreement with other dietary acculturation research conducted in non-Asian population samples. These results suggests that immigrants who have adapted to the US lifestyle are more likely to adopt a Western dietary pattern, while those who immigrate at an older age or live in metropolitan areas where traditional foods are available and affordable are more likely to maintain traditional dietary patterns. Although the studies presented in this literature review represent the recent researches conducted in Asian populations in the US, the research in dietary acculturation remains sparse. Nurses need to understand that although their Asian American patients may have resided in the US for many years and may have demonstrated some degree of acculturation, may retain some of their traditional dietary practices at the same time. Nurse researches can capitalize on further studies in examining important variables to Western food choices and better understanding of the influence of traditional health beliefs, pre-migration factors, and social and environmental influences on the dietary practices of Asian immigrants.