Evaluation of the Relationships between International Students' Levels of Adaptation to Turkish Cuisine and Anthropometric Measurements: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Research

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the association between international university students’ adaptation to Turkish cuisine and their anthropometric measurements. The notion of "dietary acculturation" is utilised as the chief analytical framework to elucidate nutrition-related alterations occurring throughout the migration process.Method: A sample of 183 international students enrolled in higher education institutions in Türkiye was used to conduct the research. The participants' dietary habits, their level of familiarity with Turkish cuisine, and their physical measurements were all carefully evaluated. Additionally, we examined the influence of factors such as length of residence, cultural affinity, and geographical similarity on these variables.Results: The findings indicated that 41.0% of the participants reported weight gain following their arrival in Türkiye. Adaptation to Turkish cuisine was positively associated with a longer duration of residence in Türkiye. On the other hand, cultural and geographical closeness did not show a statistically significant effect on the dietary acculturation path. BMI distribution also differed significantly according to duration of residence (p=0.037): the combined proportion of overweight and obese participants remained between 27% and 40% during the first seven years of residence but fell to 14.3% among those who had lived in Türkiye for seven years or more, 85.7% of whom were of normal weight. The weight gain reported after arrival therefore suggests a possible increase in metabolic and nutrition-related health risks in the earlier years of residence, whereas the BMI distribution appears to shift towards the normal range among longer-term residents.Conclusion: The findings suggest that dietary acculturation among international students is associated with increased adaptation to Turkish cuisine and may be accompanied by weight gain, particularly during the earlier years of residence, while the BMI distribution shifts towards the normal range among students with longer periods of residence. To reduce the risk of health problems, it is a good idea to create specific plans that encourage healthy eating and to include nutrition education in wider cultural adaptation programmes.