Looking Across and Within: Immigration as a Unifying Structural Factor Impacting Cardiometabolic Health and Diet

Abstract

Introduction Immigration has been identified as an important social determinant of health (SDH), embodying structures and policies that reinforce positions of poverty, stress, and limited social and economic mobility. In the public health literature with regard to diet, immigration is often characterized as an individual-level process (dietary acculturation) and is largely examined in one racial/ethnic subgroup at a time. For this narrative review, we aim to broaden the research discussion by describing SDH common to the immigrant experience and that may serve as barriers to healthy diets. Methods A narrative review of peer-reviewed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies on cardiometabolic health disparities, diet, and immigration was conducted. Results Cardiometabolic disease disparities were frequently described by racial/ethnic subgroups instead of country of origin. While cardiovascular disease and obesity risk differed by country of origin, diabetes prevalence was typically higher for immigrant groups vs United States (US)-born individuals. Common barriers to achieving a healthy diet were food insecurity; lack of familiarity with US food procurement practices, food preparation methods, and dietary guidelines; lack of familiarity and distrust of US food processing and storage methods; alternative priorities for food purchasing (eg, freshness, cultural relevance); logistical obstacles (eg, transportation); stress; and ethnic identity maintenance. Conclusions To improve the health of immigrant populations, understanding similarities in cardiometabolic health disparities, diet, and barriers to health across immigrant communities—traversing racial/ethnic subgroups—may serve as a useful framework. This framework can guide research, policy, and public health practices to be more cohesive, generalizable, and meaningfully inclusive.