Dietary Acculturation among African Emigrant Students in India: Determinants and Problems

Objective: Emigrants face a high level of food insecurity. There is a wide research gap in the domain of identifying the determinants and problems of dietary acculturation in the context of emigrant students. This article attempts to study the factors affecting the dietary acculturation of African emigrant students in India. Design: For conducting a first-of-its-kind study for African emigrant students in India, we used field survey method, and the primary data were collected using a pre-structured questionnaire. Setting: This was a field survey conducted in Punjab (a state of India). Participants: One hundred and twenty African emigrant students participated in the survey. Results: Results of logistic regression indicated that food awareness ( P = 0·027) and food suitability ( P = 0·043) were the major determinants of dietary acculturation. Lack of familiarity and lack of proximity to food access points are the major problems faced by the African emigrant students. African emigrant students prepared for dietary acculturation largely only after coming to India. There is a significant positive correlation ( P = 0·013) between problems faced by the respondents and tendency to prepare for acculturation after coming to India. Conclusions: Information regarding local food environment plays a significant role in dietary acculturation. There is a pertinent need to educate emigrant students regarding food availability and access by developing suitable educational content.