ResearchCurrent ResearchChronic Diseases and Dietary Changes in Relation to Korean Americans’ Length of Residence in the United States
Section snippets
Study Design and Subjects
A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to August 2000 of Korean Americans residing in Michigan using a mail survey. The number of Korean Americans in the United States in 2000 was 1,076,872, representing 0.4% of the total US population, and the number of Korean Americans residing in Michigan was 20,886 (8). Our sample of 637 represents approximately 3% of the Korean-American community in Michigan.
All individuals listed in the Michigan Korean Americans’ Telephone Directory (N=2,625),
Results
Table 1 summarizes subjects’ age, sex, length of residence in the United States, educational level, employment status, marital status, smoking status, and body mass index. Mean age, length of residence in the United States, and education level were 53.8 years, 22.3 years, and 15.8 years for men, respectively, and 49 years, 20.5 years, and 14.3 years for women, respectively. The subjects in our study had a higher education level than the average reported for Korean Americans by the National
Discussion
The traditional Korean diet is characterized by a basic menu of steamed rice, hot and spicy soups, and kimchi (spicy fermented vegetables), supplemented with side dishes of fish, meat, or vegetables. The Korean diet is typically low in fat, high in carbohydrates, and moderate in protein content (34). It is likely that Korean Americans shift from this dietary pattern to a more typical US diet after immigration to the United States. Earlier studies have shown that immigrant Asian Americans
Conclusions
Dietary changes among first-generation Korean Americans were associated with length of residence in the United States and frequency of chronic diseases. Biculturalism may have beneficial effects on health. However, the transition to a US diet as a result of immigration raises important questions regarding the long-term health effects of dietary change. Second-generation (ie, US-born) Korean Americans exposed to a US lifestyle earlier in life most likely have different dietary patterns and
E. J. Yang is an assistant professor, Department of Culinary Science, Honam University, Gwangju, Korea.
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2021, Food Quality and PreferenceCitation Excerpt :Distinct from speaking the language of a host country or adapting to new societal norms, culinary behaviors are partially practiced privately among individuals (e.g., eating while sitting on the floor, or women mostly preparing the food); thus, detailed research into these behaviors could shed light into everyday practices that influence health and consumer preferences (Kittler et al., 2011). Overall, such research should advance human nutrition and consumer preference studies by addressing the weakness observed in prior measures of dietary acculturation such as non-validated scales (Jasti, Lee, & Doak, 2011; E. J. Lee, Lee, & Lee, 2017; Lv & Cason, 2004), relying mostly on proxy measures of generation status, length of residence, language proficiency, etc. (Obiang-Obounou, 2018; Park, Murphy, Sharma, & Kolonel, 2005), assessing short term food and beverage intake from the previous month (Satia et al., 2001; Serafica, Lane, & Ceria-Ulep, 2013; Yang, Chung, Kim, Bianchi, & Song, 2007), focusing on a small number of specific foods, and using 24-hour dietary recall or FFQs that were not tailored for immigrants (Dubowitz, Subramanian, Acevedo-Garcia, Osypuk, & Peterson, 2008; Gregory-Mercado et al., 2006; M. J. Kim, Lee, Ahn, Bowen, & Lee, 2007; Tserendejid, Hwang, Lee, & Park, 2013). In the present study, focusing on first-generation immigrants in Turkey, a visual inventory to measure culinary acculturation is developed and its validity and reliability are determined.
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E. J. Yang is an assistant professor, Department of Culinary Science, Honam University, Gwangju, Korea.
H. K. Chung is a professor, Division of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Hoseo University, Chungnam, Korea.
W. Y. Kim is a professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
L. Bianchi is a statistical consultant, Flint Community Schools, Flint, MI.
W. O. Song is a professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, Lansing.