Migration, Acculturation and Environment: Determinants of Obesity among Iranian Migrants in Australia

Maryam Delavari, Anders Larrabee Sønderlund, David Mellor, Mohammadreza Mohebbi and Boyd Swinburn
Additional contact information
Maryam Delavari: WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia
Anders Larrabee Sønderlund: School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QJ, UK
David Mellor: School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia
Mohammadreza Mohebbi: Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia
Boyd Swinburn: WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria 3125, Australia

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: While migration from low- to high-income countries is typically associated with weight gain, the obesity risks of migration from middle-income countries are less certain. In addition to changes in behaviours and cultural orientation upon migration, analyses of changes in environments are needed to explain post-migration risks for obesity. The present study examines the interaction between obesity-related environmental factors and the pattern of migrant acculturation in a sample of 152 Iranian immigrants in Victoria, Australia. Weight measurements, demographics, physical activity levels and diet habits were also surveyed. The pattern of acculturation (relative integration, assimilation, separation or marginalization) was not related to body mass index, diet, or physical activity behaviours. Three relevant aspects of participants’ perception of the Australian environment (physically active environments, social pressure to be fit, unhealthy food environments) varied considerably by demographic characteristics, but only one (physically active environments) was related to a pattern of acculturation (assimilation). Overall, this research highlighted a number of key relationships between acculturation and obesity-related environments and behaviours for our study sample. Theoretical models on migration, culture and obesity need to include environmental factors.

Keywords: acculturation; obesity; physical environment; immigration; health; Iranians (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/2/1083/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/2/1083/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:2:p:1083-1098:d:44990

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().