title: Longitudinal study of acculturation and BMI change among Asian American men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cross-sectional studies examining the association between Western acculturation and BMI in Asians have been inconsistent, and studies on BMI change are lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the associations between indicators of acculturation (generational status, length of US residence, and age at immigration) and overweight (BMI ≥25kg/m(2)) as well as 5-year BMI changes in 7,073 Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese men who lived in the US and were 44-71years old at baseline of the California Men's Health Study (2002-2003).
  
  
  METHODS
  Indicators of acculturation were reported at baseline. Repeated clinical measures of BMI were extracted from electronic health records (2005-2012).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using generalized estimating equations we found that lower generational status, shorter duration of US residence and older age at immigration were inversely associated with being overweight. However, analysis of BMI curves using linear mixed models showed that shorter length of US residence and older age at immigration were associated with larger 5-year increases in BMI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asian immigrants who were less acculturated had larger BMI increases as they became more acculturated but had not achieved overweight status. Healthy weight interventions among Asians immigrants may be most effective when targeting weight maintenance early in the process of acculturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: eva.oakkar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erber Oakkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Jianwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Krista M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Perreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Popkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gordon-Larsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nirupa R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Ghai
authors.affiliation: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Bette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caan
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Quinn
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Acculturation; Age at immigration; Asian Americans; Body mass index; Generational status; Length of US residence; Weight change