ACCULTURATION AND LATINO HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES: A Review of the Literature and its Sociopolitical Context

This chapter provides an overview of the concept of acculturation and reviews existing evidence about the possible relationships between acculturation and selected health and behavioral outcomes among Latinos. The effect of acculturation on Latino health is complex and not well understood. In certain areas-substance abuse, dietary practices, and birth outcomes-there is evidence that acculturation has a negative effect and that it is associated with worse health outcomes, behaviors, or perceptions. In others-health care use and self-perceptions of health-the effect is mostly in the positive direction. Although the literature, to date, on acculturation lacks some breadth and methodological rigor, the public…

• RW
  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• AF
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• NC
  National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities