Acculturation and obesity among Latinos: Reconciling inconsistent findings

According to the CDC, 23.7% of the Hispanic population is obese and the proportion of Hispanic individuals defined as overweight exceeds 50%. Existing evidence indicates that obesity risk markers (i.e., BMI, physical activity, and dietary intake) in Hispanics are inversely related to socioeconomic status (SES). The relationship between acculturation, SES, and obesity in this population is not clear. While obesity appears to increase with successive generations of residence in the U.S., other findings indicate that with increased acculturation, obesity levels decrease. We argue that the moderate negative linear relationship may obscure a non-linear association between acculturation and obesity. Increasing acculturation may have different effects on obesity depending on the SES level of Hispanics. First, we proposed a moderator model with SES as a moderating variable that interacts with acculturation to predict obesity risk markers. Next, we proposed a quadratic association model where the negative relationship between acculturation and obesity turns into a positive relationship at higher values (e.g., above the 75th percentile). In a sample of 112 low, middle, and high SES Hispanics, the relationship between SES, acculturation, and Hispanic obesity was investigated. Analysis revealed that total daily caloric intake (Kcal) had a significant quadratic association with degree of Hispanic acculturation (p < .05). Findings for the moderator model indicated SES and degree of American acculturation interact to influence 12.5% (p < .01) of the participant's daily intake of protein. Results suggest that SES, acculturation do interact with obesity markers in Hispanics to predict obesity. These findings may lead to a greater understanding of the interaction between acculturation, socioeconomic status, and Hispanic obesity.