Examining Differences in Pre-Migration Food Consumption Behaviors Between Filipino Non-Migrants and Migrants to the United States

Background: Migration – the physical movement of people from one place to another for better living conditions, food, employment, education, business etc. – has been described in various literature as a geographical and social phenomenon, playing a pivotal role in global health and agriculture through disease transmission and fluctuations in food availability. Today, approximately 23 million Asian Americans have reported themselves as having migrant origins, and this population is projected to reach 46 million by 2060. While several studies have examined the impact of migration on food consumption behaviors in various Asian ethnic groups, few studies have explored this relationship in Filipino migrants specifically, and even fewer from the lens of pre-migration.

Objective: This study aims to examine the differences in food behaviors at pre-migration between Filipino migrant and non-migrant cohorts, using data collected from the UCLA Health of Philippine Emigrants Study (HoPES), a dual-cohort longitudinal, transnational study from 2017-2020.

Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using a dataset from the HoPES study. Data was collected from two cohorts – Filipino migrants preparing to move to the United States (n=832) and non-migrant Filipinos who planned to remain in the Philippines for the study’s duration (n=805). Twenty-nine (29) food-related variables were extracted from the original dataset and assessed using SASSTATA software. A Student’s t-test was performed on each variable to calculate means, standard deviations, and frequency distributions.

Results: Data analysis is ongoing, but preliminary findings seem consistent with previous literature, which states that recent migrants display healthier food behaviors compared to their non-migrant counterparts. Thus far, the Filipino migrant cohort has shown significantly higher consumption of 9 food items, mostly vegetables, fish, and chicken, whereas non-migrants had higher consumption of 7 food items, primarily carbohydrates, sugars, fats/oils, and sweets.

Conclusions: Research into the pre-migration experience is essential towards addressing, (1) current knowledge gaps surrounding migration theory, (2) developing a clinical understanding of the influence of pre-migration behavior on individual long-term health, and (3) promoting social action, through the creation of nutrition programs and other health promotion resources that can support the immigrant population.