What Is Acculturation?

It is a modification of a person’s customs, habits, language usage, life style, and value orientations as a result of contact with a different culture. -“Theory and Measurement of Acculturation” (1978)

Courtesy of reachhispanic.com

When immigrants enter a new country, they experience acculturation.  Studies have shown that acculturation can have an effect on for mental and physical health as a result of the pressures to “fit in” and become assimilated into new cultural standards.

Because the American media and patriarchal social standards idealize “thinness” for women, it is hypothesized that immigrant women may be affected by the standards of the new culture, and therefore, could develop a distorted body image that may result in disordered eating patterns.