| Acculturation is the process of change in persons of one culture as a result of their coming into contact with a different culture and has important health considerations such as obesity, which is an increasing risk factor that is more prevalent in non-White populations. According to research, there have been inconsistent findings through the identification of acculturation indicators that seem to be strongly modified by Hispanic subethnicity and gender. Although a great extent of the existing empirical research studies examining acculturation and obesity are inclined toward adults, low socioeconomic status, and urban Hispanics, and give limited generalizable information, many of these studies utilized factors such as language use and generational status to categorize difficult acculturation processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of acculturation on obesity among Hispanic young adults by surveying Hispanic male and female young adults about their acculturation, weight status, and sociodemographic data in order to find out if the process of becoming acculturated into the United States has different health implications for Hispanic young adults, and if the mechanisms that are believed to link acculturation and obesity operate differently for this demographic group. This quantitative study employed a correlational approach in order to explore the relationship between acculturation and obesity in Hispanic young adults. The predictor variables were acculturation (with subfactors of language use, media, and ethnic relations), gender, marital status, and age, and the criterion variable was obesity. A sample of 45 Hispanic young adults from the PhD Women's Network and PhD Men's Network who are enrolled in or have completed a PhD program and living in the U.S. eastern time zone completed a web-based survey instrument. No significant relationships were found between obesity and any of the 4 predictor variables and the acculturation subfactors. In addition, the results indicate acculturation did not have an impact on obesity and other various factors must be considered in understanding acculturation and the influence of different culturally related obesity identifiers. |
