Doctoral Dissertation Research: Impacts of acculturative stress on diet change and metabolic status among young adults

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation project examines biocultural questions about how relocation affects young adults' dietary behaviors and physiology over time. Scientists have observed that elevated stress and diet change are each associated with poorer metabolic function for resettled populations in some urban settings. However, social conditions that induce these changes, and the interactive impacts of stress and diet change, are often underexplored. Using existing survey data, new data, and biological sampling, this research will advance fundamental knowledge about biosocial mechanisms that shape human biological variation. Outcomes of this project will assist with interpreting root causes of health disparities in diverse societies and may inform public health research and policy. This project will also support student training, international research collaborations, and science outreach activities. Biocultural research in anthropology includes questions about the physiological consequences of the nutrition transition in which highly processed, nutrient-poor fast food supplants local food systems. Other research complements this body of work by illustrating the challenges of adapting to a new society, including a new food system. This project proposes that social pressure to integrate into a new society induces stress and accelerates diet change to negatively impact young adult physiological well-being. Investigators leverage previously-collected survey data from when participants relocated as children, and follow up with them in adulthood using surveys, interviews, and health assessments. With this mixed-methods approach, the project is uniquely positioned to trace and compare how diet and physiology interact and respond to new social conditions. Pairing these analyses with a health assessment can further clarify how social pressures "get under the skin" to stratify health outcomes over the life course. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.