East Asian immigrants face multiple challenges upon arrival in their destination country, including an increased risk of future diabetes and cardiovascular disease development. The adoption of food and eating patterns of their host country (i.e., dietary acculturation) may contribute to this increased disease risk. To effectively examine the dietary acculturation–disease risk relationship in East Asian immigrants, sensitive tools are necessary; however, there has been no systematic review of the methods used to assess dietary acculturation in this population. A systematic scoping review of the literature was undertaken to address this gap. A systematic search was conducted in December 2019 and returned a total of 6140 papers. Manuscripts were screened independently by 2 reviewers, resulting in the final inclusion of 30 papers reporting on 27 studies. Robust measures of dietary acculturation were lacking, with only 6 studies using validated tools. Most studies used self-reported cross-sectional surveys to determine how the individual's diet had changed since immigrating, with responses provided on Likert scales. Only 3 quantitative longitudinal studies used prospective measures of diet change, through serial food-frequency questionnaires. Qualitative studies explored dietary acculturation and factors influencing change in diet through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. This review found there is no consensus in the literature on how to most effectively measure the magnitude and process of dietary acculturation in East Asian populations. There is a need for robust, longitudinal, and mixed-method study designs to address the lack of evidence and develop more comprehensive tools measuring dietary acculturation. Improving the assessment methods used to measure dietary acculturation is critical in helping to monitor the impact of interventions or policies aimed at reducing diet-related disease risk in East Asian immigrant populations.

Chinese immigrants living in Western countries are at increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases. Dietary acculturation has been implicated as a potential contributor, but little is known about why diets change post-migration. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how and why diets change post-migration for Chinese immigrants living in Australia. Eleven participants undertook semi-structured interviews exploring and comparing their diets when they lived in China to their post-migration diets. Thematic analysis revealed that participants exhibited changed social structures of meal preparation, and made unacknowledged dietary changes, such as recipe modification, to maintain their traditional Chinese diet post-migration. Implications of both deliberate and unrecognized dietary changes post-migration include connections to increased risk for metabolic disease post-migration.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct a narrative review of the food insecurity literature pertaining to university and college students studying in Very High Human Development Index countries. It aims to document food insecurity prevalence, risk factors for and consequences of food insecurity and food insecurity coping strategies among students.Design/methodology/approach: English articles published between January 2000 and November 2017 were identified using electronic databases. Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies assessed the study quality of quantitative research.Findings: A total of 37 quantitative, three mixed-methods and three qualitative studies were included from 80,914 students from the USA (n=30 studies), Australia (n=4), Canada (n=8) and Poland (n=1). Prevalence estimates of food insecurity were 9–89 percent. All quantitative studies were rated weak based on the quality assessment. Risk factors for food insecurity included being low income, living away from home or being an ethnic minority. Negative consequences of food insecurity were reported, including reduced academic performance and poor diet quality. Strategies to mitigate food insecurity were numerous, including accessing food charities, buying cheaper food and borrowing resources from friends or relatives.Research limitations/implications: Given the heterogeneity across studies, a precise estimate of the prevalence of food insecurity in postsecondary students is unknown.Practical implications: For many students studying in wealthy countries, obtaining a postsecondary education might mean enduring years of food insecurity and consequently, suffering a range of negative academic, nutritional and health outcomes. There is a need to quantify the magnitude of food insecurity in postsecondary students, to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies to reduce the impact of food insecurity on campus.Originality/value: This review brings together the existing literature on food insecurity among postsecondary students studying in wealthy countries to allow a better understanding of the condition in this understudied group.

Food insecurity negatively impacts the health and well-being of postsecondary students attending college and university. Students may be especially vulnerable for food insecurity if they care for children. This qualitative study explored the experience of food insecurity among nine food-insecure university students with children who accessed a food bank on their campus. Transcripts of semi-structured, individual interviews underwent content analysis. Students tried to shield their children from the negative effects of food insecurity by sacrificing their own nutrition in times of food shortage. Food-insecure postsecondary students with children may therefore be at risk for compromised dietary intake and other negative health and academic consequences by limiting their own diet in order to ensure their children’s nutritional needs are met.