Food acculturation issues for Middle-eastern women migrating to Western countries in the early phase: An Australian case study of Iranian migrants.

Objective: Despite acknowledgement of the importance of food to health, well-being and identity, there is a dearth of research into the migrant experiences, particularly for skilled-migrants from new ethnic minorities in western countries. This paper explores food acculturation issues for Middle-Eastern mothers through the lens of Australian case study of Iranian women to see what the lived-experiences of newly arrived migrants are to adapt to the food ways in new home and how it affects their health.Main body: Food acculturation refers to the process that occurs when migrants adopt eating patterns/food choices of the host country [1]. Food acculturation is multidimensional, dynamic and complex and it is not a linear transition from a so-called traditional diet to a westernised one [2]. Anthropological studies assert a link between cultural identity and food choices. The impact of acculturation on health and diet may depend on the path and the degree to which migrants maintain their former cultural identity as well as on the extent to which they adopt the cultural practices of their new homeland. The characteristic of migrants and the host country can influence the degree of acculturation and consequently food behaviour [3]. Dietary changes are the normal part of migration, but evidence shows that people from dissimilar cultural, language and phenotype are more likely to endure isolation and marginalization and consequent dramatic changes in their lifestyle including their diet. In any case contextual factors is needed to understand the process of food acculturation [4, 5]. The Australian study found that the maintenance of traditional food ways is important for mothers in order to preserve their cultural identity and feelings of connection with their home country. However, this need is less relevant for their children who seek to assimilate with their peers and the adopted culture. This situation creates stress and tensions for migrant mothers who are aware of the less healthy nature of western foods compared to their traditional foods, but nevertheless make compromises to support their children’s assimilation (Kavian et al,…being prepared for publication).Researchers (Charles and Kerr 1988; DeVault 1991; Coveney 2006) confirm that as with other aspects of parenting, regulating family’s diet is highly gendered, with mothers carrying the major responsibility and work associated with feeding the family and ensuring they have healthy diet [6-8]. Mothers have to negotiate numerous food decisions with family members, which Appadurai has called gastropolitics [9]. Gender roles and relations including food work can be expected to undergo changes with migration, and therefore impact migrant mothers’ identity and health. The Australian study (kavioan et al…) found that food and family work became a much more prominent focus of women’s lives and identity, not always in a positive way.It is well recognised that the early stages of adjustment following migration impose high social, financial and health costs to the individuals [10]. Iranian migrant women were highly educated in their home country but find themselves unemployed in the adopted country. This drop in social and financial standing brings with it mental health consequences as well as changes to women’s gender relations (Kavian et al,…being prepared for publication).Conclusion: This research highlights the importance of psychosocial context in shaping food practices and how food acculturation produces stresses for new immigrants. It is reasonable to assume that food acculturation adds additional burdens to migrant mothers who have to negotiate their own and their family’s food adaptations to a new culture. These findings are salient for countries like Australia with large numbers of migrant communities. Nutrition practitioners and policy makers can use these findings to finesse their services to migrant communities in the interests of promoting health and preventing chronic diseases associated with poor diets.

کلیدواژه ها:

food acculturation ، mothers ، Iranians ، migration ، qualitative