Dietary acculturation of Asian and the Middle East and North African region immigrants to Saudi Arabia: healthy or unhealthy acquired nutritional behavior?

Al Zeidan, R.; Tharkar, S.; Hersi, A.; Ullah, A.

doi:10.1101/591230

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Dietary acculturation of Asian and the Middle East and North African region immigrants to Saudi Arabia: healthy or unhealthy acquired nutritional behavior?

Al Zeidan, R.·Tharkar, S.·Hersi, A.·Ullah, A.

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Abstract

Travel and migration influences food behavior. This study assessed the dietary acculturation of immigrants in Saudi Arabia, with regard to length of stay and health status of immigrants. This cross-sectional study included 880 university immigrant employees and their family members from Asian and Middle East and North African regions. Dietary acculturation was assessed based on knowledge and practice of methods of food preparation, type of food consumption, and nutrition label reading behavior, using a measurement tool on a 5-point Likert scale. Furthermore, a scoring system was adapted for healthy practices. Anthropometric, biochemical, and blood pressure measurements were performed as per the World Health Organization guidelines, to determine participants health and comorbid status. In addition, scores were calculated for healthy options. Factors influencing better awareness were determined by logistic regression analysis. The most adopted methods of food preparation after migration were barbeque (p=0.018), microwave cooking (p=0.002), and raw food consumption (salads) (p<0.001). Consumption of carbonated drinks (p=0.025), fried fatty and processed food (p=0.037), and sweets and candies (p=0.008) were significantly higher among recent immigrants of <5 years of residency. Label reading behavior of nutritional contents and low-fat options was higher among immigrants with [≥]5 years duration of residency (63%; p<0.001). Although female gender, longer duration of residency in Saudi Arabia and presence of comorbidity significantly improved the overall awareness and practice scores in the binary analysis, they failed to show significance in regression model except for the presence of diabetes which improved only awareness. None of the other independent factors seem to influence healthy practices. Chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and hypertension increased with longer duration of migration(p<0.001).\n\nNew immigrants are at risk of acquiring negative dietary habits compromising health, necessitating follow-up studies to establish causation. Interventional policy measures are recommended to formulate dietary guidelines.

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Al Zeidan, R., Tharkar, S., Hersi, A., Ullah, A.. 2019-03-28. Dietary acculturation of Asian and the Middle East and North African region immigrants to Saudi Arabia: healthy or unhealthy acquired nutritional behavior?. https://doi.org/10.1101/591230

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