1 - (SYM 118) I'm Going to Have to Eat It, Even If I'm Full: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis on Eating Behaviors and Beauty Ideals Among Latin American Immigrant Women

Approximately 22.4 million people based in the United States (US) are from Latin America, yet existing research does not adequately account for the challenges faced by this population. Immigrants in the US are at high risk of experiencing weight gain due to sudden changes in diet. Further, exposure to various beauty ideals through acculturation (e.g., the thin ideal) can contribute to the development of maladaptive eating behaviors (e.g., binge eating, restriction), particularly among women. Thus, Latin American immigrant women are simultaneously at risk of experiencing weight gain, facing weight-based discrimination, and resultantly engaging in dangerous weight control strategies. This qualitative study aimed to better understand how individual, sociocultural, and systemic factors impact eating behaviors and perceived beauty ideals among Latin American immigrant women in the US. Participants (N = 20; ages 18-46, M = 31.9, SD = 7.98) completed individual semi-structured interviews. A majority of participants had migrated to the US from Colombia (N = 6) or Mexico (N = 6) and resided in New York (N = 10) or Rhode Island (N = 6). We used template-style thematic analysis to analyze data. Two coders (SP and JN) jointly developed a hierarchal codebook using two transcripts to establish inter-rater reliability. The first author then coded the remaining transcripts with team oversight and identified themes from the codes, which were reviewed by the team and checked by members of the study population to maintain validity. We identified six primary themes: 1) immigration’s influence on food’s emotional and cultural roles, 2) the use of food to reclaim sociocultural identities, 3) families promote societal values on eating and beauty, 4) the effect of post-migration exposure to diverse beauty ideals on mental health, 5) the mental and physical risks of pursuing diverse beauty ideals, and 6) eating-focused health care interventions fail to meet the population’s needs. Findings highlight the nuances that drive “maladaptive” eating behaviors, from emotional eating that evokes nostalgia to familial pressures that span geographic borders. Further, eating and weight-related conditions are salient among Latin American immigrant women, yet current interventions are inaccessible or culturally inappropriate. Future research can apply study findings to create targeted interventions that incorporate this population’s unique experiences, with emphases on the cultural importance of food and the social pressure to conform to differing beauty ideals.