UNC Chapel Hill researchers have found that most Mexican immigrants to the United States adopt a more "American" diet despite the abundance of Hispanic food options. Carolina Batis is a P-h-D candidate in nutrition at UNC and author of the study. She says some of the changes include more healthy items like fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk, and fish.
Carolina Batis: "But overall we do see that there are more negative changes, like more pizza, more salty snacks, french fries, desserts... and when we compare the overall intake, we can see that compared to Mexicans, the amount of unhealthy foods is higher here in the United States."
Batis and her colleagues examined the diets of more than 16,000 people in four groups: Mexicans, Mexican immigrants to the U-S, U-S-born Mexican-Americans, and non-Hispanic whites. The study appears online in the Journal of Nutrition.