StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Acculturation and Lifestyle Habits among Different Ethnic Groups - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Acculturation and Lifestyle Habits among Different Ethnic Groups" claims that ethnic groups living together influence one another. Often the minority group may become assimilated into the majority group over a number of years, but sometimes the minority group influences the majority…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.3% of users find it useful
Acculturation and Lifestyle Habits among Different Ethnic Groups
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Acculturation and Lifestyle Habits among Different Ethnic Groups"

Arab Americans wanted to determine if their mental health was in any way influenced by how they fit in in their larger communities. They wanted to know if their general social environment and their lives as a minority altered their perceptions of the world. In this article, the researchers define acculturation as “the process of change on both the individual and group level that results from contact between a minority and a dominant culture, leading members of the minority culture to adjust their original cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors” (81). This definition is a useful starting point.

A certain amount of stress accompanies any group that may not have as many opportunities or access to employment as a more dominant social group. For ethnic groups that are new to a country or community, or that share space with a larger group, this can be especially acute. However, the authors of this article did not find that acculturation had a determinant role in the mental health of Arab Americans. It could increase their stress levels but many other factors were involved in their mental health.

Ghaddar S, et al. “Acculturation and healthy lifestyle habits among Hispanics in United States-Mexico border communities.” Rev Panam Salud Publica. 28 (2010):190–7.

Many aspects of the lives of ethnic groups can be altered through acculturation. If people who are socio-economically poorer arrive in a richer country they may find themselves in a different class than they belonged to at home. This might change their behavior. Forms of employment may change; types of leisure activities may be altered. Ghaddar, et al, examined the issue of healthy lifestyles among Hispanics in border communities. They were curious about what kind of effect acculturation had on these groups.

It was more than mere idle curiosity that led the researchers to take up this question. They knew that Hispanics living in the border areas were less likely to have adapted to the American mainstream and that they would be poorer, have less insurance, and have less access to healthcare. It was evident to them that these structural issues prevented these groups from having many of the advantages of acculturation:

Acculturation is an important factor in border region populations’ adoption or rejection of healthy lifestyle habits and therefore must be considered and addressed in programs that seek to improve health behaviors and health outcomes in U.S.-Mexico border communities” (191). The researchers decided that acculturation could be a mixed bag. The Hispanics in these regions would gain more self-awareness and understand a variety of new healthy behaviors, but would also give up some of their healthy dietary practices in the process (194). Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/other/1419434-sociology
(Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1)
https://studentshare.org/other/1419434-sociology.
“Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/other/1419434-sociology.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Acculturation and Lifestyle Habits among Different Ethnic Groups

Effects of Acculturation among the Filipinos

On the other hand, the data based on ethnic identity and the emotional wellbeing has suggested that there exists a concurrent counter trend.... This focuses on the ethnic identity and the various perceptions that discrimination focuses.... In numerous researches carried out in America, I tried to investigate how acculturation affects the level of education and employment opportunities and its effects and related health conditions in California among the Filipinos....
12 Pages (3000 words) Research Paper

Diabetes as a Serious Health Issue in Many Developed Countries

Acculturation is a social process in which those of various cultural and ethnic backgrounds, born outside the country where they currently live, adopt new cultural norms that are more like those native to the country in which they live.... The key risk factors of diabetes are obesity, particularly abdominal obesity (Haffner, 2009), unhealthy diet, ethnic-specific food habits, genetic predisposition indicated by family history, age, and physical inactivity (Shaw & Chisholm, 2003) as well as reduced HDL cholesterol, raised triglycerides and increased blood pressure (International Diabetes Federation, 2009)....
13 Pages (3250 words) Research Paper

Nutrition Practices among Ethnic Groups In The US

The main factors including the traditional beliefs, values, and customs attached to different ethnic groups have changed the way people consume food.... The author of this essay "Nutrition Practices Among ethnic groups In The U.... The United States is one of the nations with varied ethnic groups that have been significantly influenced by nutrition practices.... Kaufman (2007) argues that although many ethnic groups in U.... tend to adopt American nutritional practices, the nutrition choices of ethnic groups tend to be influenced by cultural food practices....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Race, ethnicity and cultures influence on health

Nonetheless, the communal significance issued to these structures to delineate the races and ethnic groups that have been handled and addressed in analogous manners rooted on deduced biological attributes, on top of the recognition that these categorizations have promoted differences in health care access and health, necessitating the continued use of race, culture and ethnicity.... According to Harris et al (2006), the prevalence of childhood obesity among the non-whites, particularly African Americans, surpasses that of other ethnic groups in United States....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Marketing to the South Asian Population

For instance, Delener (1990) finds that religiosity affects significantly buying behavior from many ethnic groups.... Therefore, understanding of purchasing habits of people from minority ethnic groups equal sires understanding of their cultural differences, which become apathy rent in the ethnic identities of each nation.... in Europe new immigrant groups are beginning to impact the economic, social and political scene' (Palumbo and Teich, 2004)....
16 Pages (4000 words) Assignment

The impact of culture on consumer buying behaviour

Under such circumstances, people are faced with various cultural reference groups which ultimately affect their behavior towards purchasing.... Cultural factors differ by country to country and are a complex phenomenon when people move to foreign countries where the cultural dimensions that are prevalent are totally different.... Competition among the organizations is ever increasing in the ever-changing environment that we live in....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Obesity in Ethnic Minorities: An Analysis of its Prevalence

The objective of this study "Obesity in Ethnic Minorities: An Analysis of its Prevalence" is to systematically review and analyse the factors affecting the prevalence of obesity in minority ethnic groups in England and proffer interventions to manage this condition.... According to the 2001 Census Report for England and Wales, in England, minority ethnic groups are classified according to the UK Census method whereby people are asked to specify to which of sixteen ethnic groups they belong....
35 Pages (8750 words) Essay

Obesity Intervention for Adolescents

This paper tells that obesity among adolescents in the USA is highest among Black American girls with 29.... The researcher states that very few studies about interventions focusing on improving healthy lifestyle and behaviors such as nutritional habits and physical activity of adolescents have been conducted....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us