Acculturation is a factor in diabetes

study shows Americanization of lifestyle creates unhealthy eating habits, diabetes

Latinos with diabetes living in the United States may be better off sticking to their traditional foods rather than adopt an American diet, according to research from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The study suggests that acculturation is associated with undesirable eating habits, and that the adoption of what is considered typical U.S. eating habits tends to be inconsistent with healthy eating.

The report states that Latinos who were more acculturated were less likely to have diets high in fiber and lower in saturated fat than their less-acculturated peers.