Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence of overweight appears to vary in people of first and second generation ethnic minority groups. Insight into the factors that underlie these weight differences might help in understanding the health transition that is taking place across generations following migration. We studied the role of social and cultural factors associated with generational differences in overweight among young Turkish and Moroccan men and women in the Netherlands.MethodsCross-sectional data were derived from the LASER-study in which information on health-related behaviour and socio-demographic factors, level of education, occupational status, acculturation (cultural orientation and social contacts), religious and migration-related factors was gathered among Turkish and Moroccan men (n = 334) and women (n = 339) aged 15-30 years. Participants were interviewed during a home visit. Overweight was defined as a Body Mass Index ≥ 25 kg/m2. Using logistic regression analyses, we tested whether the measured social and cultural factors could explain differences in overweight between first and second generation ethnic groups.ResultsSecond generation women were less often overweight than first generation women (21.8% and 45.0% respectively), but this association was no longer significant when adjusting for the socioeconomic position (i.e. higher level of education) of second generation women (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.77, 95%, Confidence Interval (CI) 0.40-1.46). In men, we observed a reversed pattern: second generation men were more often overweight than first generation men (32.7% and 27.8%). This association (OR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.09-3.24) could not be explained by the social and cultural factors because none of these factors were associated with overweight among men.ConclusionsThe higher socio-economic position of second generation Turkish and Moroccan women may partly account for the lower prevalence of overweight in this group compared to first generation women. Further research is necessary to elucidate whether any postulated socio-biological or other processes are relevant to the opposite pattern of overweight among men.
Highlights
The prevalence of overweight appears to vary in people of first and second generation ethnic minority groups
The objective of the present study is to assess which social and cultural factors might account for these generational differences in overweight and how they may differ for men and women
We found more significant generational differences in socioeconomic position than in men, with second generation women being higher educated than first generation women
Summary
The prevalence of overweight appears to vary in people of first and second generation ethnic minority groups. We studied the role of social and cultural factors associated with generational differences in overweight among young Turkish and Moroccan men and women in the Netherlands. Higher rates of overweight and obesity have been observed among ethnic minority groups compared to host populations [1,2,3,4]. There appears to be a large variation in overweight according to generational status in these groups. Prevalence of overweight among second generation men tend to be higher in the second generation compared to the first generation. Most other studies did not compare generations with this young age group which makes it difficult to compare the results [1,3,8]
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