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Acculturation and food label use among Korean immigrants in New York City
Author(s) -
Shim Hyun Jung,
Doak Colleen,
Jasti Sunitha
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.344.7
Subject(s) - acculturation , immigration , marital status , purchasing , comprehension , psychology , scale (ratio) , demography , medicine , gerontology , environmental health , geography , sociology , marketing , business , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , cartography , population
Objective This study explores the level of acculturation of Korean immigrants living in New York City in relation to food label use, food label comprehension and whether label information influences the decision to purchase the food. Method A cross‐sectional survey of 355 church going Korean immigrants in Queens, New York City. Results In this sample, mean age was 42.3±14.5 y, 58% were women, 60% married, 67% had at least some college education, 52% lived in the U.S more than 12 y, and 22% were overweight or obese. While 59% used food labels at least sometimes, 44% scored ≥5 out of 6 in comprehension. Food label information reportedly changed purchasing decision for 46%. Mean acculturation was low at 2.06±0.69 (scale 1 – 5). Higher acculturation (score >;2) was associated with food label use, comprehension and whether the food label influenced the decision to purchase. Acculturation was associated with food label use (OR=3.13; CI=1.8, 5.42) and its influence on purchasing decision (OR=2.28; CI=1.29, 4.01) after adjusting for age, education and marital status. The associations were much stronger in men as compared to women (data not shown). Conclusions These results show that acculturation is an important determinant, particularly for men, both in relation to using food labels as well as the importance of food labels in purchasing decisions.