Assessment of the effect of acculturation on dietary and physical activity behaviors of Arab mothers in Lubbock, Texas

OBJECTIVES: Our study was conducted to collect exploratory data on Arab mothers in the United States regarding their dietary and physical activity behaviors and to assess the relationship of acculturation to these behaviors. DESIGN: Focus groups and interviews were conducted to collect data on dietary and physical activity behaviors of Arab mothers in Lubbock, Texas. The Social Cognitive Theory guided the development of questions related to the role of acculturation on the dietary and physical activity behaviors. The Male Arab-American Acculturation Scale was used to measure acculturation. RESULTS: A bicultural dietary pattern of Arab mothers emerged. Negative behaviors included skipping meals, increased intake of high-fat fast foods and meat consumption, and lack of traditional physical activity. Some reported reasons for the negative behaviors included children's preferences, lack of access to traditional foods, preference for convenience, the low cost of some foods, and lack of time. Positive changes for some Arab mothers included healthier cooking techniques, reading nutritional labels, and making new healthy food choices due to increased awareness of healthy foods, availability and affordability of many healthy choices in the United States, and Arab mothers' attempts to enrich their families' meals with vegetables in order to keep the Arabic dietary pattern. CONCLUSION: Positive dietary and physical activity changes should be supported. Nutrition interventions are needed that address the major barriers to diet and physical activity changes reported by these Arab mothers. Ethn Dis . 2012 Spring;22(2):192-7.