Obesity Rates in Asian Americans

My topic is about the differences in obesity rates between Asia (specifically East Asia) and Western societies, such as America. This topic is worth investigating, because obesity is becoming a worldwide problem, and it appears to be that Asia is somewhat still better at keeping obesity rates in check than in other places. My research question is: why are obesity rates lower in Asia than in other places (not including third world nations), and what cultural practices are in place which help keep obesity rates in check in East Asia.

In Environmental Contributions to the Obesity Epidemic, the writers are trying to identify the environmental factors of obesity. The findings listed in the article are all used to support the main point of the article, which states that the current obesity epidemic is due to people living in an environment that encourages eating excessively and discourages physical activity. The journal article specifically points out several factors: high-fat diets, the availability of large and cheap quantities of food, and advances in technology which reduce the need for physical activity. This is relevant to my study because this helps show that environmental factors certainly do play a factor in obesity, as opposed to non-environmental factors such as genetics. Furthermore, the environmental factors that are shown in the article link very closely to the differences in environment/culture between East Asia and America (such as the availability of technology, many people in East Asia do not have a personal car). The evidence presented does make a very convincing argument because the factors that the author lists are easily observable in everyday society; no one who has lived in America will argue against the fact that high-fat food is easily available and costs very little.

Exploratory Investigation of Obesity Risk and Prevention in Chinese Americans talks about how obesity is dealt with by the Chinese Americans community. It was a qualitative study and involved interviews with various Chinese Americans; the common themes in interviews were identified, coded, and compared using NVivo software so that the attitudes could be measured in a more scientific manner. Their findings were that Chinese Americans generally thought of obesity to be a phenomenon that does not happen to their demographic, but sixty percent of them did feel that they might one day be susceptible to obesity. They believe that obesity is due to the availability of cheap and readily available fast food, and also an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Furthermore, they say that Chinese food is a healthier alternative to fast food for them. They also say that Chinese culture encourages overeating because a heavy physique is still considered somewhat desirable in Chinese culture.

This article provides very relevant information for my study because I specifically want to look at how culture can affect obesity rates. Chinese Americans are an excellent source of information, because they live in American society, but still are affected by Chinese culture. The findings in this article help me learn more about how culture can affect obesity in more ways than one. For example, Chinese culture can actually encourage obesity, but the Chinese food actually healthier than American fast food and thus does not promote obesity as much. The study did indeed obtain some very significant and important information about the attitudes on obesity in Chinese Americans, and the evidence is very convincing because the interview results were compiled logically using computer software. The article does leave some questions unanswered; it does not talk about how Chinese culture has explicitly affected the Chinese American interviewee's attitudes on obesity.