Dietary Characteristics and Influencing Factors on Chinese Immigrants in Canada and the United States: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Chinese immigrants are an integral part of Canadian and American society. Chinese immigrants believe diet to be an important aspect of health, and dietary behaviours in this population have been associated with changes in disease risk factors and disease incidence. This review aims to summarize the characteristics of the dietary behaviours of Chinese immigrants and the associated influencing factors to better inform individual, clinical, and policy decisions. Methods: This scoping review was written in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, AgeLine, ERIC, ProQuest, Nursing and Allied Health Database, PsychARTICLES, and Sociology Database were utilized for the literature search. Articles were included if they explored dietary or nutritional intake or its influencing factors for Chinese immigrants to Canada or the United States. Results: A total of 51 papers were included in this review. Among Chinese immigrants in Canada and the United States, the intake of fruits and vegetables, milk and alternatives, and fiber were inadequate against national recommendations. Chinese immigrants showed increased total consumption of food across all food groups and adoption of Western food items. Total caloric intake, meat and alternatives intake, and carbohydrate intake increased with acculturation. Individual factors (demographics, individual preferences, and nutritional awareness), familial factors (familial preferences and values, having young children in the family, and household food environment), and community factors (accessibility and cultural conceptualizations of health and eating) influenced dietary behaviours of Chinese immigrants. Discussion and Conclusion: Efforts should be undertaken to increase fruit, vegetable, and fibre consumption in this population. As dietary acculturation is inevitable, efforts must also be undertaken to ensure that healthy Western foods are adopted. It is important for healthcare providers to remain culturally sensitive when providing dietary recommendations. This can be achieved through encouragement of healthy ethnocultural foods and acknowledgement and incorporation of traditional health beliefs and values into Western evidence-based principles where possible.

Insights into Chinese Canadian culture: enablers and barriers for fruit and vegetable intake

“…There were 9 females and 4 males. Professions included physician (12) and dietitian (1). All were practicing in the Metro Vancouver area with 10 in Vancouver and 3 in Burnaby.…”

“…Despite this public health priority to promote F&V consumption, the Canadian Community Health Survey reports in 2021, the number of people in BC who consume F&V 5 or more times per day decreased to 21% ( 11 ). Furthermore, a scoping review of 51 papers found that F&V intake, and fiber among Chinese immigrants in Canada and the United States fall below the national guidelines ( 12 ).…”

“…In fact, research has found acculturation from Eastern to Western lifestyles to have a negative impact on diet and health ( 13 ). For example, a scoping review ( 12 ) documented higher caloric intake, increased consumption of meat and alternatives, and elevated carbohydrate intake associated with acculturation ( 12 ). This trend may be partly explained by increase in portion sizes, more frequent dining out and higher consumption of convenience foods, as these behaviors were positively correlated to length of stay of Chinese immigrants in Canada ( 14 ).…”

Effectiveness of the Marketing Strategy of Krispy Kreme Outlet Stores to Chinese Customers in Metro Manila

“…In Spain, Chinese immigrants are consuming more morning cereals, pasta, dairy goods, almonds, legumes, and fast food (Martin, Lou, & Sanz Rojo, 2021). According to Zou et al (2022), Chinese immigrants boosted their overall food intake across all food categories and adopted Western foods. The consumption of total calories, meat and substitutes, and carbohydrates rose with acculturation.…”

Considering the role of integration experiences in shaping immigrants’ post‐migration food choices and eating practices

“…Although these studies reveal the impact of socioeconomic status and cultural differences, most of them implicitly assume that immigrants’ dietary acculturation to the host country's dietary practices is inevitable (Sanou et al., 2014). Despite such a small but growing body of literature, recent scoping reviews reveal that there is still an overwhelming emphasis on individual factors (e.g., individual preferences, and nutritional awareness) and there is a lack of consensus in the dietary acculturation literature (Lee et al., 2021; Zou et al., 2022).…”