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Ronni Lee Bowen, MS and Carol M. Devine, PhD, RD. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, (607) 254-5498, rlb23@cornell.edu
Cultural orientation plays an important role in the food choices and experiences of Latina adolescent girls. High rates of overweight and less diet diversity have been reported among later generation Latina girls, but most studies have not included Puerto Ricans and are limited by methods that fail to elucidate the process by which acculturation is related to health outcomes. Acculturation theory, cultural idealism, and the life-course perspective guided this analysis, aimed at examining the relations between acculturation and the food choices and related experiences of Puerto Rican girls. A purposive sample of 23 (10 to 18yo) girls was recruited. They included 1) recent migrants and 2) later generation girls living in an urban upstate New York community, and 3) girls living in Puerto Rico. Multiple semi-structured, in-depth interviews explored the influences of family, neighborhood, culture, and migration patterns on girls’ food choices. Participant observation supplemented interview findings. In qualitative data analysis using a grounded theory approach, mothers’ cultural orientation emerged as a strong influence on food choices and cooking experiences across groups of girls. Contact with Puerto Rican grandmothers, neighborhood food environment, household composition, and girls’ age and birth order contributed to this relationship. Latinas, the largest minority group of girls in the Continental US, are a vulnerable and understudied population. These findings have generated a conceptual framework that can inform the development of culturally sensitive research, health policy, and health promotion programs for Puerto Rican adolescent girls. Cornell University and the University of Rochester Medical Center funded this project.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Latinas, Nutrition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.