review · BMC Nutrition
Minority ethnic populations in high-income countries face distinct risks of obesity and non-communicable diseases linked to dietary habits. A synthesis of qualitative studies across six high-income countries examined how Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic communities perceive their food consumption. The findings show that while people frequently recognise the health consequences of poor diets and possess nutritional knowledge, substantial barriers impede healthy eating. These barriers include social, cultural, and structural obstacles, such as food accessibility, family expectations, and differences between traditional and host-country foods. Furthermore, dietary acculturation shapes eating habits over time. Crucially, existing biomedical nutritional guidance is sometimes viewed with scepticism, with some individuals perceiving standard advice as tailored exclusively for White populations and conflicting with their cultural values and community welfare.
Diet-related conditions such as obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases disproportionately impact minority ethnic populations in high-income nations. Understanding how these communities view food, culture, and dietary advice is essential for designing effective health strategies. Without addressing cultural perceptions and systemic barriers, mainstream nutritional guidance risks being ignored by the communities that need support the most.
The abstract does not describe a commercial product, but rather foundational qualitative evidence. These insights could inform the design of culturally tailored public health programmes, clinical dietetic guidance, or digital nutrition services targeted at minority ethnic users in high-income countries. Because the review focuses entirely on synthesising user perceptions, any resulting interventions or communication tools remain at an early concept stage and require deliberate development and testing.
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BACKGROUND: Minority ethnic groups are a fast-growing population in many high-income countries, partly due to the increasing population of immigrants and second-generation migrants. The dietary practices of some of these minority ethnic groups might make them to be disproportionately affected by obesity and increase their risks of developing non-communicable diseases. Population-specific interventions and strategies are vital to addressing poor nutritional practices among this population. Thus, this study systematically reviewed the perceptions of dietary intake amongst Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups in high-income countries. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted in line with the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for systematic reviews, using a meta-aggregative design. This systematic review identified and synthesised qualitative literature on the perceptions of dietary intake amongst BlackAsian and other minority ethnic groups in high-income countries. An extensive and comprehensive database search was conducted between January 2000 - May 2022 and included twenty (20) studies that met the eligibility criteria from six countries. The included studies were assessed for quality using the JBI qualitative assessment and review instrument. The JBI data extraction tools were used to retrieve relevant data from included articles, and the data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: We identified eight major themes across this database: (1) "Social and Cultural Factors," (2) "Availability and Accessibility," (3) "Family and Community Influences," (4) "Food Preferences", (5) "Home Country Food Versus Host Country Food" (6) "Dietary Acculturation" (7) "Health and Healthy Eating" (8) "Perception of Nutritional Information." CONCLUSION: Overall, Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic groups individuals were found to be aware of the effects of unhealthy eating on their health, and some of them have nutritional knowledge, but social and cultural factors, including structural factors, were deterrents to their healthy eating behaviours. An important finding from this review is that some participants believed that nutritional information, based on bio-medical science, was intended for only White population groups and that it was antagonistic to their cultural and community well-being.
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DOI: 10.1186/s40795-023-00743-8
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