Dietary Acculturation Among International Students in the United Kingdom

There is a significant rise in the proportion of international students pursuing tertiary education in the United Kingdom. This population coming from different countries faces a lot of challenges which contribute to negative health effects and needs further attention. One among these challenges is dietary acculturation. This systematic review aims to explore the factors influencing dietary acculturation and its public health impacts among international students in the UK. Five online databases namely ProQuest Central, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and Medline were searched, and nine qualitative articles were selected that met the eligibility criteria which were then assessed for quality using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Methodology involved data extraction and a thematic synthesis, which identified three themes and several sub-themes. The findings of this review indicate that dietary acculturation among international students was affected by tight academic schedules and global fast-food chains. This led to students consuming unhealthy food, contributing to weight gain. However, having social ties and interaction were found to be helpful in dietary acculturation. Higher education institutions can emphasis on nutrition education with focus on substitute foods, alternatives to unhealthy choices, and initiatives to make bicultural food accessible to the students to make the new environment conducive to learning. Public health policies as well as regulations can be made on informed decisions based on an understanding of differences and specific needs of the foreign student population.