title: Diet and acculturation among Hispanic/Latino older adults in the United States: a review of literature and recommendations.
abstract: Among U.S. and foreign-born Hispanic/Latino older adults living in the United States, associations of dietary acculturation and health outcomes have yielded no consistent findings. The purpose of this review was to present current knowledge and research disparities on acculturation, dietary intake, and health outcomes among the fastest growing minority group in the United States. Fifteen peer-reviewed studies that measured dietary acculturation among Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Dominican older adults living in the United States were identified and examined. This literature review divulged contradictory associations between dietary acculturation and dietary intake, along with nutritional and general health outcomes. Conclusive evidence has yet to be attained due to use of cross-sectional study designs and numerous acculturation measures as well as unique cultural and dietary patterns across diverse Hispanic/Latino populations. Further research is needed to ascertain dietary acculturation among U.S. and foreign-born Hispanic/Latino older adults in the United States and should strive to develop instruments that consider the social, economic, and political environments that influence the dietary acculturation process. Furthermore, longitudinal study designs and qualitative methodologies are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, Texas 77843-1266, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arandia
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nalty
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sharkey
authors.forename: Wesley R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Dean
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000208:ethnology; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology