A Gender Study of Food Stress and Implications for International Students Acculturation

Abstract

Acculturative stress can be a big problem for international students. Among all the difficulties they may face, adjusting to new foods in a new environment is crucial to their wellbeing. Research related to food acculturation is limited but also hints at gender differences. Using the Bayesian analysis approach with the Hamiltonian MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) technique on a sample of 268 students from a Japanese international university, we found that female students are more likely to have perceived difficulties in the process of adjusting to new foods, but social connectedness lessens this effect. We also found no significant differences between domestic and international students regarding perceived difficulties on food adjustment in this highly multicultural study site. We suggest international universities provide better information about the food situations on campuses, especially for female students, and organize more cultural exchange events and food-related social activities to help students overcome barriers of food stress.

Keywords: food acculturation, gender difference, acculturative stress, international student, multicultural environment