Abstract
BACKGROUND: Changes in foods consumed by immigrants after arrival to the US are hypothesized to affect health, yet measuring changes in diet after migration is difficult. This study identified patterns of foods newly consumed and no longer consumed among a nationally representative cohort of immigrants resettled in the US. METHODS: We utilized data from 4,937 participants in the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) (average year of entry to US: 1996 [1950-2003]) who completed a freelist module listing foods they had started and stopped eating since resettling in the US. We employed principal components analysis on 24 food groups iteratively and examined differences across gender and time since arrival. RESULTS: The most common food pattern no longer consumed consisted of foods connected to a respondent's home country. Patterns of foods no longer consumed after migration were similar across gender and years in the US. Patterns of foods consumed after migration to the US differed by gender, particularly with women adopting patterns that included fruits and vegetables while men adopted patterns that included junk foods. CONCLUSIONS: We found that, among those who changed their diet post-migration, there are distinct differences in how individuals change their diet based on multiple factors.