The role of social control in promoting healthy eating behavior among Chinese immigrants: an ecological approach

2015-04-08This study examines the role of social control in promoting healthy eating behavior. The escalating epidemic of overweight and obesity affects more than two-thirds of adults in the United States. Unhealthy diets increase the risk of being overweight and obese. Individuals’ desire to overeat unhealthy diets may be restrained by agents of social integration. Guided by an ecological approach, this study focuses on the ways in which social control is communicated at interpersonal, community, and cultural levels. Specifically, this study applies and extends theoretical frameworks of social support, Communication Infrastructure Theory, and dietary acculturation. It is proposed that social support, connection to neighborhood storytelling, and cultural beliefs all have a regulatory impact on dietary behavior. This study also examines the self-regulatory mechanisms through which social control affects dietary behavior. Hypotheses were tested using a cross-sectional sample of 505 Chinese immigrants living in the United States. Immigrants may offer important analytical advantages for understanding the changes in social environments. The results provide some evidence showing that social control provides external regulation and facilitates self-regulation of healthy eating behavior. The role of social control was also tested to explain two phenomena, including the intention-behavior gap and the healthy immigrant effect. The results show that social control may facilitate the realization of healthy eating behavior for individuals with the intention of eating healthy. The results also show that foreign-born Chinese had higher levels of social control than US-born Chinese did at all levels. The results suggest that decreased levels of social control experienced after immigration may in part contribute to the loss of healthy eating habits and immigrants’ health advantages. The results have important implications for promoting healthy diets and reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity