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Acculturation and health in Korean Americans

Author

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  • Lee, Soo-Kyung
  • Sobal, Jeffery
  • Frongillo, Edward A.

Abstract

Despite increasing research on the relationships between acculturation and health, it is unclear whether (1) ethnic group variation occurs in acculturation-health relationships, (2) acculturation components vary differently in relationship to health, (3) biculturalism has beneficial effects on health and (4) multidimensional health relationships occur with acculturation. This study examined the Korean American ethnic group, considering how acculturation was related with five dimensions of health: smoking, physical activity, fat intake, body weight, and reported health. Pretested questionnaires were mailed to a national sample with Korean American surnames, and 55% of the deliverable sample responded, producing 356 usable questionnaires. Acculturation was measured using a two-culture matrix model and Gordon's theoretical work, and showed three distinct groups (acculturated, bicultural and traditional) and four components (American structural, American cultural, Korean structural and Korean cultural). Bicultural men were least likely to smoke, while acculturated and bicultural women were more likely to smoke than traditional women. Korean structural and cultural components were related to men's smoking. Higher acculturation was related to light physical activity, but not to vigorous physical activity. Fat intake did not differ by acculturation status. Higher acculturation was associated with higher body weight and better self-reported health only in men. Higher American cultural component scores were associated with better self-reported health in men. Among Korean Americans, acculturation components varied in their relationships with health, beneficial effects of being bicultural on health were not found, and acculturation-health relationships were multidimensional. Overall, ethnic group variation in health occurred, with Korean Americans similar to some ethnic groups but different than others. Future health research and practice can benefit by acknowledging the complexity of acculturation and its multidimensional effects on health.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Soo-Kyung & Sobal, Jeffery & Frongillo, Edward A., 2000. "Acculturation and health in Korean Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 159-173, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:51:y:2000:i:2:p:159-173
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    Cited by:

    1. Toselli, Stefania & Rinaldo, Natascia & Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela, 2019. "Length of residence and obesity risk among North African immigrant women in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 74-79.
    2. Khalil Ahmad & Amjad Ali, 2016. "Rising Population and Food Insecurity Linkages in Pakistan: Testing Malthusian Population Growth Theory," International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research (IJEER), The Economics and Social Development Organization (TESDO), vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, January.
    3. Maryam Delavari & Anders Larrabee Sønderlund & David Mellor & Mohammadreza Mohebbi & Boyd Swinburn, 2015. "Migration, Acculturation and Environment: Determinants of Obesity among Iranian Migrants in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Sunmin Lee & Allison H O’Neill & Emily S Ihara & David H Chae, 2013. "Change in Self-Reported Health Status among Immigrants in the United States: Associations with Measures of Acculturation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-1, October.
    5. Baron-Epel, Orna & Kaplan, Giora & Haviv-Messika, Amalia & Tarabeia, Jalal & Green, Manfred S. & Nitzan Kaluski, Dorit, 2005. "Self-reported health as a cultural health determinant in Arab and Jewish Israelis: MABAT--National Health and Nutrition Survey 1999-2001," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1256-1266, September.
    6. Miao, Siyu & Xiao, Yang, 2020. "Does acculturation really matter for internal migrants’ health?Evidence from eight cities in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    7. Stigler, Melissa & Dhavan, Poonam & Van Dusen, Duncan & Arora, Monika & Reddy, K.S. & Perry, Cheryl L., 2010. "Westernization and tobacco use among young people in Delhi, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(5), pages 891-897, September.
    8. Gorman, Bridget K. & Lariscy, Joseph T. & Kaushik, Charisma, 2014. "Gender, acculturation, and smoking behavior among U.S. Asian and Latino immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 110-118.
    9. Lee, Sunmin & Chen, Lu & He, Xin & Miller, Matthew J. & Juon, Hee-Soon, 2013. "A cluster analytic examination of acculturation and health status among Asian Americans in the Washington DC metropolitan area, United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 17-23.
    10. Afable-Munsuz, Aimee & Ponce, Ninez A. & Rodriguez, Michael & Perez-Stable, Eliseo J., 2010. "Immigrant generation and physical activity among Mexican, Chinese & Filipino adults in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 1997-2005, June.
    11. Sou Hyun Jang, 2021. "Relationship between Employment Type and Self-Rated Health among Korean Immigrants in the US: Focusing on Gender and Number of Years in the US," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.

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