Acculturation and Food Insecurity Among Puerto Ricans Living in Boston.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the associations among acculturation, food environment, and food insecurity among Puerto Ricans in Boston.

METHODS

The researchers used data from the second wave of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study. The sample included 719 Puerto Rican adults in Boston. The researchers used logistic regression to examine the associations between psychological and language acculturation and food insecurity.

RESULTS

Individuals with medium psychological acculturation were more likely to be food insecure than were those with low or high psychological acculturation (P = .01). The association between language acculturation and food insecurity differed by distance of residence from primary shopping location (P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This study extends the understanding of acculturation and food insecurity by investigating the impact of psychological and language acculturation. The findings highlight biculturalism, indicated by medium psychological acculturation, as a risk factor for food insecurity. People with low language acculturation who live far from food shopping locations had the highest prevalence of food insecurity.