Maternal Acculturation and Weight Status Among Young Children of Asian and Hispanic Immigrant Mothers

Abstract

Using a nationally representative sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and defining maternal acculturation as three patterns of language use, this study examined the influence of maternal acculturation on child weight status at kindergarten entry, separately for children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers. Overall, this study found beneficial associations between maternal acculturation and children’s weight status in both Asian and Hispanic groups. Children of bilingual and English-dominant Asian mothers had lower body mass index (BMI) z-scores than those of home-language Asian mothers. Maternal acculturation was also associated with a reduced risk of being obese among children of Asian mothers. In addition, children of bilingual Hispanic mothers also had lower BMI z-scores than those of home-language Hispanic mothers. The findings of this study suggest that programs to promote the healthy development of young children in immigrant families may need to be tailored to different ethnic groups and levels of maternal acculturation.