The Effect of Migration on Diet and Health Status
Open Access
- Author:
- Bugda, Autum
- Area of Honors:
- Nutritional Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- A Catharine Ross, Thesis Supervisor
Alison D Gernand, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- acculturation
blood pressure
BMI
cholesterol
coronary heart disease
diabetes
diet
dietary guidelines
food habits
hypertension
Japanese
Japanese-American
Japanese-Brazilians
lifestyle
migrant
migration
Mongolians
non-insulin dependent diabetes
obesity
prevalence of diabetes
serum lipids
smoking
westernization and westernized food habits. - Abstract:
- Purpose: In the nutrition field, there is often a discussion based on nature versus nurture in the involvement of food and behavior choices. Nature refers to the biological makeup of an individual, while nurture refers to the upbringing of the individual. This idea of nature versus nurture has been studied along with migration patterns over time. This thesis project focuses on migration patterns, specifically concentrating on the Japanese population and migration patterns from Japan to more Westernized locations. This is also analyzed in their relation to overall diet and health status, centering around obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Hypothesis: Migration from Japan to a westernized country will affect diet and will be associated with changing status that resemble those of the westernized countries, including a higher risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Approach: This thesis project is set up as a narrative review process to gain perspective on a health topic. To find appropriate research articles to review for this project, The Pennsylvania State University Libraries system databases were used to find research on the topic. A population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) framework was used to categorize the data. Key Results: Data from previous research found there to be a change of diet after migration. Depending on where the Japanese migrants settled, there was acculturation in their diet. This then related to a more westernized diet, which affected overall health status over time. Summary: Evidence supported that consuming a westernized diet, coming from a traditional Japanese diet, increased health risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome over time.