Relationships of Obesity-Related Behavior Patterns With Socioeconomic Status and Acculturation in Korean American Women

Abstract

There is limited understanding about the obesity-related behaviors of diet, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in Korean American women. The purpose of this study was to cluster obesity-related behavior patterns of Korean American women and to examine group differences in acculturation, socioeconomic status (SES), and body mass index (BMI). A secondary analysis from a cross-sectional study was conducted using two-step cluster analysis for clustering groups. A total of 137 Korean American women (M age = 42.7 years, SD = 3.9 years; M _BMI = 23.1 kg/m², SD = 3.1 kg/m²; 47.7% BMI ⩾ 23 kg/m²) participated. Three clusters were identified: healthy lifestyle, unhealthy lifestyle, and low physical activity but healthy diet group. The unhealthy lifestyle group was more likely to have high acculturation compared with other groups (p = .03). SES and BMI were not significantly different between groups. Further intervention is needed to improve obesity-related behaviors of acculturated Korean American women.

Keywords

obesity Korean Americans women’s health cluster analysis acculturation socioeconomic status

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