The Importance Of The Western Diet On Immigrants

The health of both overweight and obese people lies in jeopardy due to the extra stress placed on the body, especially the heart, due to the high amount of excess fat they carry with themiv. Being overweight or obese increases a person’s risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, some types of cancer, stroke, and several other devastating ailments. The percentage of the obese population in the United States has risen from 23% to its present day rate of 30% in only eight yearsv. This skyrocketing trend is most likely related to the increase in portion sizes and calories at many American restaurants, the rising level of stress and expectation during the average workday, and the logarithmic increase in fast food restaurant options over the last 20 years. To understand how the Japanese diet supersedes the typical American diet in numerous health issues, several aspects of the diets must be evaluated.

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).

Have you ever wondered what factors lead to weight gain and obesity among immigrants and refugees in the United States? Are you aware of how weight gain and obesity is affecting the refugees and immigrants in the United States? The immigrants and refugee population in the United States is growing dramatically because people from many corners of the world have been moving to the United States for improving their lives. However, there are multiple problems including in diet and nutrition after people arrive in the USA. This paper explores major causes and consequences associated with weight gain and obesity among refugees and immigrants in the US. For the purpose, I reviewed 20 related research articles on the same topics written by many experts. Based on the review of the literature, I have two findings: (1) the major causes of the weight gain in immigrants are their continued use of nutrition and inability (or unwillingness) to adapt their lifestyles according to the new environment, and (2) such inability to adapt ultimately promotes the development of chronic diseases as obesity significantly increases chances of having such diseases. These findings do have implications regarding food acculturation, modern dietary practices, developing appropriate lifestyles, fixing nutritional deficiencies and also in improving food security. Therefore, I think that we need an intervention to fix the causes and decrease the consequences of weight gain among refugees and

Poor nutrition in the United States is indeed a scary factor that continues to lead our citizens to chronic healthcare conditions. The article notes “Health People 2020 states the most affected are non-White, Hispanic adult populations are disproportionately affected by obesity” (Kaiser Foundation Hospital, 2014, p. 6)

Many Americans are concern about the increment of disease and obesity caused by the limited options of healthy food, “since America is saturated with junk food advertising”(Khullar 135). However, in consequence of the absence of an American cuisine, fast food restaurants and foods high in fats offered by supermarkets, has become the first option to Americans. After all, Pollan’s argument that the lack of a stable traditional cuisine is the consequence of America’s national eating disorder and the steady national diet is reasonable since there are many factors that support his claim. For example, Mary Roach, in Liver and Opinions: Why We Eat What We Eat and Despite the Rest, claims that the food we eat is influenced by people’s cultural background; in other words, people are used to eating what their parents feed them when they were kids. “In addition, Americans have a conflict with having a stable eating habit; they tend to change their diet often”(Roach 123). Overall, Pollan’s is comprehensible while he argues that Americans do not have a stable culture of food, which causes an instability in people’s

There are so many issues that this world is currently facing but hardly anyone of us is actually trying to solve these issues. Many of our fellow human beings are suffering from some sort of health issue ranging from diabetes to heart disease. Not only are we slowly killing ourselves with our poor diets but we are also killing our environment by creating more and more waste and pollution. The third issue that we are currently facing is our economic issue due to our excessive spending and lack of money and income. The issues that we are currently facing can be resolved by decolonizing our diets because our health will improve, it will save the environment and it will provide the economic growth that we need.

The European government policy has corrupted Aboriginal lifestyle which effects major changes in diet, nutrition, and physical activity. A policy of assimilation where the forced removal of Aboriginal children is to integrate into white society is to obligatory ‘’to live in the same way and hold the same beliefs as white Australians’’ (Wiliam, n.d.). This leads to children being exposed to today’s Westernised cuisine that lacks fiber and is rich in fat and sugar (‘’Prevention and Management’’, 2018), therefore can increase the reliance of fast food and promoting diabetes. Moreover, it misguides the importance of correct nutrition and the ability to cook and learn healthier options. According to Woodward, ‘’chemical analysis has demonstrated

Similarly, feeding styles and evening family meals among current immigrants in the US have higher levels of stress on acculturative process. In combination with the lack of social support, mothers find it hard to be engaged in household routines such as family meals. Children of current immigrant women are more motivated to be engaged in certain “American” eating habits (e.g., eating in front of the TV, not having a scheduled meal time), which were unusual back in their home country, pressuring their mothers (Tovar et al. 2013). Likewise, Narayan et al. (2010) demonstrated that lifestyle characteristics include smoking status, alcohol drinking status, and physical activity affect overweight and increases diabetes prevalence among US immigrants.

“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.

Immigrants build a great portion of United State population and at the same time they are one of the working power of this country. They help with the progress of economy and improvement of the society. Therefore it is crucial that this population take advantage of the great opportunities of this country in order to progress mentally and physically and as the result cause improvement in united state as well. Eating healthy is one the most important part of health care system. If this population loose their traditional way of eating and get use to fatty and unhealthy foods, soon after they will face health issues and therefore they will loose the ability of being productive. As Conwel (2013) mentions in the article “Healthy Mind, Healthy Body”, it is been proven that there is a direct association between the physical part and physiological part of human being. Also Rogers (2001) mentions certain dietary risk factors may cause physiological issues.

Not very many reviews have contrasted the eating regimen of transients and comparative ethnic gatherings in the nation of starting point. A portion of the reviews depend on the workers' own evaluations of the dietary changes they have made. In any case, most reviews have looked at dietary admission between at least one ethnic minority bunches and the greater part ethnic gathering, or they analyze the eating routine between various ethnic minority amasses in the host nation.

This article focuses on different factors that change the dietary manners among the immigrants. It also emphasize on the effect of these changes on the physical and physiological health of these group of people. Along with immigration the immigrants will face higher level of stress. Stress is one of the major issues which can cause different type of heart diseases. Not only stress but also, “American lifestyle, the absence of social network, wrong food choices and preferences, fatty and salty foods, the absence of traditional food, limited usage of fruits and vegetables, consumption of frozen, can and fast food, and last but not least the sedimentary lifestyle at not working hours, are some of the reasons for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension,

America’s weight problem is steadily growing and more and more people are becoming obese each year. Many people with strong cultural backgrounds are obese because of the connection to cultural food which is often unhealthy. Some just have a busy lifestyle causes people to eat fatty foods such as fast food, and not making time to exercise. In order to maintain a healthy

The title of this article is “ Using photovoice to explore Nigerian immigrants’ eating and physical activity in the United States”. According to Turk, Fapohunda, and Zoucha (2014), the purpose of this article were to explore the perceptions and practices of Nigerian immigrants regarding healthy eating and physical activity in the United States; assess the influence of cultural beliefs of Nigerian immigrants on eating and physical activity; describe the role that healthcare providers can play in helping to promote healthy eating and physical activity; and evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of using photovoice to collect data on the perceptions and practices of Nigerian immigrants regarding healthy eating and physical activity.

Those in California, are primarily the largest demographic and as stated above live where there are food deserts, rely on food assistance programs, leaving to eat fast food. For those that are acculturating, thus eating the American way; foods that are packaged and of convenience, and that are made up of fat, salt, and sugar, find their health status to have poor outcomes. Additionally, acculturation includes more than just eating differently, it includes in a shift in “attitudes, values, customs, beliefs, and behaviors” (Pérez-Escamilla, 2009). Lastly, another study, whose hypothesis was that food insecurity could be predicted by English language proficiency did not prove to be true, rather it was directly related to acculturation. The longer or more American the immigrant family becomes, comes a preference for the English language, which correlated with household insecurities. Because of these complexities, it is pertinent that these most vulnerable groups and their traits of acculturation be known. The health belief model is a best practice model for nutrition education because it is used so often to reveal what the barriers are to behavioral change (Mohebi et al., 2013) See Diagram #1.