Perceptions of the Host Country’s Food Culture among Female Immigrants from Africa and Asia: Aspects Relevant for Cultural Sensitivity in Nutrition Communication

Abstract

Immigrants may strive to preserve aspects of their original food culture after immigration. Nutrition communication becomes more culturally sensitive when it takes such aspects into account.

An exploration of dietary practices among South Indians in Brisbane, Australia

“…In the context of migration, food and eating are not merely functional activities, but rather serve as carriers of cultural and ethnic identities, which is consistent with findings from other studies exploring migratory situations (see Anderson et al, 2005 ;Garnweidner, Terragni, Pettersen, & Mosdøl, 2012;Lawton et al, 2008;Lesser, Gasevic, & Lear, 2014 ;Mellin-Olsen & Wandel, 2005). As a starting point, I drew on the primary concept of dietary acculturation as defined by Satia-Abouta (2003) and Koçtürk, (1995)-using it to understand the factors that influence food practices of voluntary and relatively affluent migrants, a different context from the relatively disadvantaged migrant groups to which these scholars primarily refer.…”

“…In contrast, breakfast has been shown to be the first meal to be westernised (Garnweidner, Terragni, Pettersen, & Mosdøl, 2012;Lawton et al, 2008;Mellin-Olsen & Wandel, 2005).…”

Migration as a Turning Point in Food Habits: The Early Phase of Dietary Acculturation among Women from South Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Countries Living in Norway

“…Women who were part of the early waves of immigration (before the '90s) encountered a rather different situation than those who migrated within the last decade (Brochmann and Kjeldstadli 2008). The consolidation of ethnic communities, the increased number of ethnic shops and the greater availability of foreign food items (Krogstad 2002) may have made the encounter with a new context of shopping and meal preparation easier for the latter group (Garnweidner et al 2012). However, particularly in Europe, the immigrant population tends to change depending on wars, and economic and political situations (Brochmann and Kjeldstadli 2008).…”

“…Previous research indicates that dietary acculturation is not a simple linear process, but a multidimensional, dynamic and complex one (Satia-Abouta, Patterson, Kristal, et al 2002;Cleveland et al 2009;Wamwara-Mbugua, Cornwell, and Boller 2008;Garnweidner et al 2012). Adaptation to a new food environment can be difficult, particularly for groups migrating from low-income countries and who have low income and education (Donkin and Dowler 2002;Gilbert and Khokhar 2008;SatiaAbouta 2003).…”

Les transformations des pratiques alimentaires d’immigrants allophones de la région de Montréal

“…Cependant, cela ne veut pas dire qu'ils n'établissent pas de liens très forts entre la santé et l'alimentation, au contraire, mais simplement que ce critère n'est pas important pour eux dans l'attachement à leur SCPM. Quoi qu'il en soit, des études montrent une très nette tendance chez les immigrants primo-arrivants à comparer leurs modèles alimentaires à ceux qui sont dominants dans l'espace social alimentaire, et, la plupart du temps, ils valorisent leurs modèles tant sur le plan de la santé que sur celui du goût, plus central encore (Burns 2004 ;Garnweidner et al 2012 ;Harbottle 2000 ;Renzaho et al 2006).…”