Dietary Manners Among Immigrants

Through a substantial amount of research the authors prove that by following a fad diet it can cause many adverse effects, as well as shedding light on benefits of exercise and maintaining a balanced diet. In the opening chapters of the book it is discussed why low fat diets do not work and exactly which diets do. While reading about low fat diets and the health risks that they cause, the book draws you in by explaining the patient profile of a 55 year old man, whom had lost his life due to heart attack. By reading this section of the book its outline how we are all responsible for maintaining our own health, and cases

In the article “Escape from the Western Diet”, Michael Pollan suggest to the people that they should stop eating a western diet because western diet is also responsible for western diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and many more. In his article he said that “People eating a Western diet are prone to a complex chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating more traditional diets.” He also gave the solution of this problem by telling people to stop eating a western diet. New theories made new treatments to treat different diseases. In his point of view, if people want to escape from western diet they need to stop eating western food daily. He thinks that if people want to stay healthy they should eat food, not too much,

This article was to examine how the US government uses dietary guidelines for Americans and how the guidelines were supposed to help us eat and stay healthy. Diet and chronic diseases are sometimes connected. For example, it is proven that nutrient deficiency disease like scurvy can be cured by consuming the lost nutrients. However, it is also shown that some nutrient exposure can cause chronic illness such as energy, fats, sodium dietary fiber, and food exposures, etc. making it difficult to set dietary guidelines. In addition to some nutrient causing chronic diseases, nondietary factors such as stress, lack of exercise, smoking and other environmental factors are linked to causing chronic illnesses (Slavin, 2012).

Health is very important, it give you the opportunity of have a good quality of life. A country with good health has happy citizens. However, some reports show us how Americans suffer poor health. The health of Americans is worse than the health of citizens in other wealthy countries even though the United States spends more on health care than any other country. Poor health is caused by the bad nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, stress, and busy life. At the same time, the USA is full of fast food restaurants. Also, they consume a lot of junk food, for example, they consume soda, fried food, and desserts. As a result, the American lifestyle contributes to being overweight. There are three reasons why Americans have poor health.

Apart from healthcare issue, the country has adopted the fast-moving life style, which has pushed most of our citizens to succumb to obesity as a result of fast foods. In fact, a recent report by the UN has ranked the United States as the most obese country in the world. Parramore (2012) outlines that, “Obesity is currently being considered as a national crisis in the United States and that it contributes 100,000 to 400,000 deaths per year. Statistics at the CDC and Prevention in 2010 indicate that 35.7% of the American adult is obese.” Many input trends exist in the American society, “First and foremost, people are highly used to fried foods, sugary drinks, and processed meats among others. There is also the sedentary lifestyle that has been adopted by many,” (Huffington Post, 2013). In fact, most of us love relaxing without exercise and too much television watching. These are some of the factors that contribute to obesity. The result is health complications problems such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease just to mention but a few. These affect the longevity of life.

Various regions of the world have different responses to the issue of obesity. Some cultures view obesity as necessary and attractive while others are taking drastic measures in an attempt to promote a healthy lifestyle. Although some of these drastic changes seem a bit invasive and controversial, policy makers are debating whether it is effective and even whether or not such a policy should be adopted in the United States. According to the article written by Gallagher, a culture sensitive approach should be implemented in order to tackle the issue of global obesity. A study of children of Mexican descent showed that about 32.6% of Mexican children occupying the U.S. are overweight and about 19.2% are obese (Gallagher 2010). The parents observed in this study were serving their children unhealthy foods, such as those from cans and fast food restaurants, due to price and convenience (Gallagher 2010).

I chose to address the questions what are the strengths and weaknesses of the American diet, as well as, what is distinctive about American food. I chose these questions to focus my research paper on because of the relationship between the American diet and health care. The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, due to immigration, which is what makes it so distinctive. The diet also has many flaws including the cause for rising medical issues. I have a pre-nursing major, so diet plays a big role in the medical field. My purpose for researching the American diet is to be able to…. With the Industrial Revolution, the inventions of many new products such as processed foods, refrigerators, and fast food chains.

As with other cultures, diet is a major factor that can cause any health issue. Culture is

Traditionally, the African American diet consisted of leafy green vegetables, fish, poultry, and beans. However, the cooking methods, such as deep frying, the heavy use of gravy, pork fat, and butter add a large amount fat and cholesterol to an otherwise heart-healthy diet. “Soul food” with its fried chicken, fried pork chops, and corn bread have become the traditional comfort food, and there is a large significant placed in the African-American culture on community and family gatherings centered around food. Historically, African-Americans lived a highly active lifestyle that compensated for a higher than average fat content in their diet. As modern trends swing toward a more sedentary lifestyle, the direct result is heart disease rising to be the leading cause of death among African-Americans (Cowling, 2006, p8).

The effects of the western diet are emphasized and seen through immigration. Many articles and studies have been done to show the effects of the westernized diet among immigrants. We often view immigrants as people coming to America seeking opportunity for themselves and their families to have better lives. While immigrants focus on providing for their family, one must wonder how often they think of the foods they and their families consume. In this section we will explore the effect of the western diet on different communities of immigrants. Batis, Bates, and Sanou, analyze the trends of obesity between Mexican immigrants and Americans, Latino & Asian Americans, and Canadian born vs. Canadian Immigrants.

Improving the health conditions of the American population ensures the increased quality of life. People eat for various reasons with the fundamental reason being for survival purposes. However, the issue of eating to live and living to eat affects people in different manners as most people develop poor eating habits that affect the body’s nutritional intake and affects their health. Being healthy involves careful considerations of what one is eating and engaging in activities that contribute to better healthy lives that do not imply daily prescriptions or

The United States is a melting pot of cultures from around the globe. Many immigrants acclimate to American culture and customs while retaining many of their native culture and customs. However, much of their culture places these immigrants at risk for health disparities. Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing racial and ethnic in the United States (cardiosmart.org, 2014). According to CDC.gov (2004), compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics experienced chronic liver disease 62% more, diabetes 41% more, HIV 168% more and cancer of the cervix 152% and stomach 63% more for males and 150% more for females.

Linking to ethnicity the Asian origin value family relations and it is common for three or four generations to be living under the same roof. However, this does not affect their health and well being as such. Although an influence leading to effects of health and well being is Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine contains many saturated fats from butter, lard and ghee and curries containing lots of oil. Individuals who are living a poorer quality of life may find that their diet includes a lot of saturated fat as it maybe cheaper and easier to get hold of. Eating a lot of saturated fat can increase the cholesterol in the blood. High levels of cholesterol can increase risk of heart disease which includes: heart attack, stroke or narrowed arteries (atherosclerosis). Unfortunately, the overwhelming emphasis on the role of saturated fats in the diet and the risk of CAD has distracted investigators from studying any other effects that individual saturated fatty acids may have on the body. Though, a long term effect to intake of too much saturated fat is obesity. This has an affect and links to gender. Obesity leads to many health problems such as: type 2 diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer or colon cancer and stroke. Women are more likely to become obese than men. This is because women naturally have more body fat and less muscle mass than men. In addition, women burn fewer calories at rest than men do. Relating to life expectancy, men will live and be more

Having learned about the common food and dietary practices in the Mexican culture, it seems quite challenging to teach dietary adjustments, especially if they are used to cooking and eating the same type of food for many years. My approach to this will be to suggest making slight variations or modifications on ingredients or food preparation methods, instead of teaching them to avoid eating a certain type of dish altogether. If the patient has coronary artery

“Dietary patterns of Americans differ widely, but most Americans eat a diet that could best be described as in need of improvement”. Compared to other countries, the American diet is very different. I have first hand experienced how much different Americans eat from other countries. For a brief, but very beneficial and productive time, I lived in Barcelona, Spain with my host family. Over in Spain, they eat much more fresh, organic food. There was a lot more seafood in the average diet. The meal configuration over there is also different than ours. Lunch is the largest meal eaten every day; different than America, where dinner is the largest.