Changing Diets: From East to West Examining Chinese Immigrant Acculturation through Food Choices

Introduction increasing consumption of unhealthy convenience foods and decreasing taste As of 2010, The United States is home values for healthier, traditional Chinese to about 1.8 million Chinese immigrants, foods. In other words, acculturating and the numbers are continuously Chinese are no longer receiving the growing. This makes the Chinese the same satisfaction from traditional foods; largest Asian population in the US and they like the taste of junk food and fast the fourth-largest immigrant population food better. Unfortunately, these after Mexican, Filipino, and Indian i changing patterns have potentially large immigrants. consequences on immigrant health Chinese immigration to America is particularly regarding obesity and hardly a new phenomenon; it can be diabetes. dated back to the 18th century and What is a traditional Chinese diet? possibly even earlier. However, the first major wave of immigration began in the In America, Chinese food is generally mid 1800’s during the California Gold associated with take-out restaurants or Rush and the construction of the all-you-can-eat buffets—a hub of Transcontinental Railroad. Less than a unlimited shrimp fried rice, lo mein, and few decades later, though, laws like the orange chicken and a place of copious Naturalization Act of 1870 and the amounts of fats and oils. Surprising as it Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 were may be, these foods are not common at enacted and restricted Chinese the majority of Chinese families’ dinner immigration tables. Instead, a traditional Chinese ii to the US. meal is high in fiber and low in saturated It was not fats. It relies heavily on grains, until the particularly rice, vegetables like Chinese Immigration cabbage, gai lan, and bok choy, and Act of 1965 protein sources like tofu.iii All of these that these foods are generally steamed or lightly policies were eliminated and Chinese stir-fried and are void of heavy and immigration could resume. Today, fattening sauces. Light broth soups are Chinese immigration is steadily also a typical part of the Chinese meal growing—fueled by the business that helps satisfy the individual without opportunities, education, free market, the use of thick cream and butter. and democratic government of the Lastly, Chinese tea is also a major United States. However, in recent years, component of the diet and is viewed as changes in the Chinese population have both a beverage and a medicine.iv been newly observed—many of these changes being in lifestyles and eating Of course, the Chinese diet, like most habits. As immigrants and children of other diets around the world, has its immigrants have begun to acculturate— share of sweets and fried foods. adopting behaviors of the surrounding However, cookies, cakes, ice cream, American culture—there has been and other Western-styled desserts are typically only served on special Despite this glimpse of positive lifestyle occasions. Examples of more change observed in acculturating commonly-eaten desserts are red bean Chinese immigrants, though, there are soup, seasonal fruits, and steam papaya also a number of unfavorable changes soup.v being made: increased food portion size, greater frequency of dining out, Potential Reasons for Diet Change and greater consumption of convenience foods.vii In the Chinese culture, there is no calorie counting. Food is viewed as In a cross-sectional study conducted in nourishment Pennsylvania studying dietary pattern and something change and acculturation in Chinese to be enjoyed; it Americans, individuals self-reported is not perceived increased intake of fats, sweets, and as a source of soft drinks. They also reported vi weight gain. decreased consumption of traditional While this is generally a safe Chinese foods. A potential contributing perspective to have because of the high factor to this is shifted taste values for nutritional value offered in Chinese food, certain kinds of foods—switching as Chinese immigrants assimilate to preferences for the typically simple and American traditions, appreciation for lighter Chinese flavors with the more these traditional foods and cooking Western-styled foods.viii styles is disintegrating. New, heavily Western-influenced diets are being Changes in Perception of Food adopted and are beginning to become a worrisome source of weight gain for Researchers of a Canadian study Chinese immigrants. investigating changes in perceived flavor, health value, and prestige of food Observed Dietary Changes found that there were significant differences in food preferences between Among the Chinese immigrant adult first generation Chinese boys and population, there have been surprising second generation boys. First, Hrboticky and somewhat conflicting trends in and Krondl found that the length of dietary habits. In a 2011 cross-sectional exposure in a new environment is a analysis of 120 native Chinese strong determinant in the extent of individuals currently residing in Canada, dietary change. The study also revealed Chinese immigrants reported having that second generation individuals had greater awareness and more knowledge higher appreciation of hedonic, or of healthy food choices. They were even pleasure, flavor and gave high prestige making better decisions like reducing ratings to desserts, snacks, and fast the use of unhealthy cooking methods foods.ix and eating more fruits and vegetables. The authors mention that this increase Interestingly, a major contributing factor in fruit consumption could be attributed to changes in food preferences is to the aesthetic appeal of Western whether the foods are typically displays of food compared to those in consumed among friends or not. These China. foods include donuts, chips, French fries, and other nutritionally-lacking or consumption. Because of this, school- empty foods. This implies that compared based education programs would likely to the first-generation, second- be most effective at leading kids to live generation individuals are more heavily healthier lifestyles, since school is influenced by where they spend more than seven peer pressure. hours a day and where they are This trend has surrounded by peers. been observed in not only the Participants of studies who actually Chinese reported making improvements in health population but choices after immigration were clustered in several other ethnic groups as well, in in groups of higher socioeconomic which the desire to fit in drives appetites status, with higher education and better xiii for fattening and sugary foods.x English proficiency. This shows the need for better dissemination of Implications information that is able to reach out to all sectors of the Chinese population. In comparison to other ethnic populations in America, the Chinese The cross-sectional study discussed have relatively low obesity rates, earlier that found acculturated Chinese 15.3%.xi However, there is still room for consuming more fruits also pointed out concern, as obesity rates across the that appealing display of the fruit could nation are on the rise. Intervening steps have led to this trend. This is a relatively must be taken now before the obesity simple way that stores and markets can epidemic grossly encroaches on the take part in encouraging healthy eating Chinese population. Furthermore, among its customers, and it clearly studies like the 2004 longitudinal study makes an impact. of Asian-American and Hispanic adolescents in Southern California has “Dietary Pattern Change and shown that greater acculturation is Acculturation of Chinese Americans in associated with lower frequency of Pennsylvania” suggests that physical activity.xii Therefore, with trends acculturated first-generation individuals of increasingly unhealthy diets and should be discouraged from consuming decreasing frequency of physical a lot of fats, sweets, and soft-drinks. activity, the health of acculturating Authors also suggest that less- immigrants is a high-priority issue. acculturated Chinese Americans should be encouraged to continue their The Need for Intervention healthful cultural dietary pattern but increase vegetable and fruit It is necessary to develop culturally- consumption. A possible barrier to specific and age-specific interventions to vegetable consumption in less combat the increasingly unhealthy acculturated Chinese individuals is the eating habits particularly in Chinese lack of familiarity with Western youth. As already discussed, kids are vegetables. Vegetables eaten in China especially vulnerable to peer-pressure are quite different from those available and are susceptible to media that in the US, and perhaps the newness of encourages fast food and candy particular vegetables and the scarcity of Asian grocery stores in some areas of i the nation contribute to lower rates of Terrazas, A., & Batalova, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from vegetable consumption. Thus, perhaps http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=78 1 ii by providing Chinese communities with Doolittle, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from fliers of where individuals can buy http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese.html iii cultural ingredients or how they can Hoffmann, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.china-family- adventure.com/chinese-food-ingredients.html prepare Western vegetables with iv traditional Chinese flavor can help Hoffmann, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.china-family- lessen this difficulty. adventure.com/chinese-food-ingredients.html v Lin, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from Helpful Links http://ethnomed.org/clinical/nutrition/chinese_food_cultural_pr ofile vi Morris, S. (n.d.). Retrieved from Much of the information here is only the http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and- beginning of the story. There is still a families/healthy-living/use-your-noodle-the-real-chinese-diet-is- so-healthy-it-could-solve-the-wests-obesity-crisis-873651.html lack of attention given to the nutritional vii Rosenmoller, D., Gasevic, D., Seidell, J., & Lear, S. (2011). health of Chinese immigrants, but Determinants of changes in dietary patterns among chinese hopefully change is forthcoming. immigrants: a cross-sectional analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8(42), Retrieved from http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/pdf/1479-5868-8-42.pdf viii Links provided below give more Lv, N., & Casib, K. (2004). Dietary pattern change and information about this topic and contain acculturation of chinese americans in pennsylvania.Journal of several helpful resources. American Dietetic Association,104(5), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00028223040 0238X ix Great Nutritional Resources: Hrboticky, N., & Krondl, M. (1984). Acculturation to canadian foods by chinese immigrant boys: Changes in the perceived flavor,  http://www.eatright.org/Public/conten health value and prestige of foods. Appetite, 5(2), Retrieved from t.aspx?id=5691 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01956663848 00318 x Hrboticky, N., & Krondl, M. (1984). Acculturation to canadian  http://www.cchrchealth.org/healthful- foods by chinese immigrant boys: Changes in the perceived flavor, eating/healthful-eating health value and prestige of foods. Appetite, 5(2), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01956663848 00318 xi  https://www.healthinfotranslations.or Popkin, B., & Udry, J. R. (1998). Adolescent obesity increases g/ significantly in second and third generation u.s. immigrants: The national longitudinal study of adolescent health . The Journal of Nutrition,128(4), Retrieved from http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/4/701.full xii Unger, J., Reynolds, K., Shakib, S., Spruijt-Metz, D., Sun, P., & Johnson, A. (2004). Acculturation, physical activity, and fast-food consumption among asian-american and hispanic adolescents. Journal of Community Health, 29(6), Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10900-004-3395- 3.pdf xiii Lv, N., & Casib, K. (2004). Dietary pattern change and acculturation of chinese americans in pennsylvania.Journal of American Dietetic Association,104(5), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00028223040 0238X About the author:

Chrystal Lau is a sophomore at Stanford University majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Children’s Health and Nutrition in Under-Served Communities. Her interests go beyond science and health, though, as she is also passionate about education, art, and music. Post-graduation, Chrystal hopes to continue on to medical school and to one day become a pediatrician.