Childhood obesity (CO) is a significant public health issue in the United States, including the immigrant populations. Obese children and adolescents are at increased risk for multiple preventable comorbidities that affect their physical health and psychological well-being. The perception exists that the immigrant child population may possess protection against CO, but this group also experienced an increased prevalence of CO. Acculturation, or the adaptation to American culture and lifestyles, has been shown to be associated with the increased obesity rate among immigrant children and adolescents. Understanding the association between acculturation factors and CO is necessary to effectively combat obesity among children and adolescents in immigrant populations. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze the association of acculturation factors on the prevalence of CO among U.S. immigrant children and adolescents. Only articles that examined CO and at least one aspect of acculturation were included in this review. Twelve articles meeting the criteria were retrieved from CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo, Academic Search Premier, and ERIC. The review identified the following acculturation factors to be associated with CO: parental immigration factors, child immigration factors, country of birth, generational status and primary home language, parental level of acculturation, and CO related lifestyle practices. There is modest evidence to suggest that a combination of acculturation factors is associated with increasing CO rate in immigrant populations. This review enhances the knowledge and awareness of public and pediatric healthcare professionals to develop targeted interventions that promote healthy weight in immigrant children and adolescents at increased risk for obesity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2703 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| Creators | Desir, Suzeline |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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