In response to the rapidly increasing amount of Asian Indian immigrants (people born in or originating from India) to the US and their high predisposition to diabetes, Palaniswamy's study presents a case for tailoring diabetes prevention programs more specifically to this ethnic group. Drawing from other studies that show decreasing levels of health after Asian Indians migrate to the UK or Canada, she investigated the dietary changes that these immigrants in the US undergo, and explored their awareness about diabetes and the factors influencing their risk of developing the disease.

Data was obtained through a questionnaire that was issued to 144 female residents of Connecticut under 45 years of age. There was an equal number of participants from each of the following categories of US residency: (1) less than 5 years, (2) 5 – 10 years, (3) more than 10 years, (4) born and raised in the US, and (5) White mainstream. Forty-nine questions tested for data on demographics, acculturation level, knowledge of risk factors, barriers to following preventative practices, confidence and health motivation, and dietary modifications after migration. Palaniswamy used the SAS General Linear Models system to analyze her data.

Results show that acculturation levels progressed along with the amount of time residing in the U.S., but no immigrant was classified as either completely traditional or assimilated. Participants who had lived longer in the US had more knowledge about diabetes risk factors and higher confidence and health motivation for preventing diabetes. They also experienced less barriers to adopting preventative health practices. However, compared to White mainstream participants, immigrant knowledge, confidence and motivation were lower and they experienced more prevention barriers in every case. While acculturation occurred in parallel to diminishing adherence to healthy traditional Indian diets, the author does not consider acculturation to significantly affect participants' motivation to care for their health. Data showed that the participants were unaware of the health benefits of their traditional diet as well as the health threats inherent to their Western dietary transition. Also, traditional diet ingredients were found to be largely unavailable in local stores.

It is concluded that health promotion and diabetes prevention programs for Asian Indian immigrants should teach about the benefits of traditional diets. Due to the participants' adequate levels of motivation for healthy living, the author recommends the incorporation of this educational focus into the design of health outreach programs that empower participants to make more informed dietary decisions. Moreover, she urges that programs should take into account the variable acculturation levels and linguistic, cultural, genetic and socioeconomic characteristics of the target immigrant population.

Prepared by Megan Glore