Acculturation and disordered eating patterns among Mexican American women

✍ Scribed by Chamorro, Rebeca ;Flores-Ortiz, Yvette

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 164 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(200007)28:1<125::aid-eat16>3.0.co;2-9

✦ Synopsis

Objective:

This quantitative study examined the relationship between acculturation and disordered eating patterns among different generations of mexican american women.

Method:

Participants included 139 mexican american women (mean age = 29.1) drawn from local undergraduate courses and community agencies. the posttest-only design included a demographic measure, acculturation rating scale for mexican americans (arsma), and the eating attitudes test (eat-26).

Results:

Of the five generations studied, second-generation women endorsed the most disordered eating patterns and the highest degrees of concurrent acculturation. moreover, there was a significant, positive correlation between acculturation and factor iii of the eat which highlights control of eating and perceived pressure from others to gain weight. participants scoring beyond the eat cut-off score endorsed bulimic symptoms.

Discussion:

Differing intergenerational ideals regarding weight may create special strains for second-generation mexican american women. criteria for disordered eating in a population previously not considered at risk should be further assessed and clinicians should be careful not to underdiagnose among this group.