Qualitative exploration of cultural factors influencing diet amongAfrican-, Caribbean- and US-born Blacks living in the northeast USA

Abstract

Limited research considers the ethnic and cultural diversity among the US Black population, and how this diversity influences diet. The purpose of thepresent qualitative study is to (1) explore the influence of culture, nativity and ethnicity on the diet of US-born, African-born and Caribbean/LatinAmerican-born Blacks and (2) explore a model of dietary acculturation among the African-born and Caribbean/Latin American-born Blacks. The purpos-ive sample included twenty-two US-born,fifteen Caribbean/Latin American-born and ten African-born Blacks (n47) living in Boston, who participated ineither an in-depth interview (n12) or a focus group (five groups, size 5–9). Satia-Abouta’s model of dietary acculturation informed the interview and focusgroup questions, which explored the influence of psychosocial factors, taste preferences and environmental factors on dietary changes. NVivo 10 softwarewas utilised for the coding and analysis. Topics based ona prioriandposteriorianalyses included differences in psychosocial factors and taste preferences andenvironmental factors by nativity. Caribbean/Latin American-born and African-born Blacks expressed the importance of cultural identity in theirdietarypreferences and found adaptive strategies to maintain cultural diet, while US-born Blacks demonstrated a variety of preferences for traditionallyAfricanAmerican foods. Environmental factors varied by place of birth and residence, with US-born Blacks citing poorer quality and limited affordability of foods.Thesefindings suggest the importance of psychosocial and environmental factors in shaping the diet of the ethnically diverse US Black population andunderscore the dietary diversity within and across the different ethnic groups of Blacks