Study reveals higher disordered eating in immigrant children

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Children of recent immigrants are likelier than their Taiwanese classmates to have disordered eating behaviors, according to research published on Thursday (April 25) by Chen Duan-rung, a professor at the National Taiwan University College of Public Health's Institute of Health Behaviors and Community Sciences.

The research, conducted from March to June 2019, surveyed 729 middle school students aged 13 to 16 from three schools in New Taipei City. The study found that 16.85% of children from immigrant families exhibited disordered eating habits, compared to 9.62% of other teenagers, a significant difference.

Three potential issues that Chen identified could affect transnational families are varying degrees of social identity needs and susceptibility to peer ridicule; pressure to conform to a culture that idolizes thinness, which could lead to excessive body image correction among immigrant children; and differing health literacy, with immigrant mothers possibly having a more relaxed attitude toward their children's obesity risks.

Chang Shu-sen, director of the Institute of Health Behaviors and Community Sciences, noted that while about one in 10 middle school students have disordered eating patterns, the ratio increases to one in six among children of new immigrants. This could be a result of psychological distress or an early symptom of other mental health issues. Long-term disordered eating can potentially evolve into eating disorders, which have a mortality rate five times higher than the general population, according to foreign studies.

Despite their success, second-generation immigrants may have "impostor syndrome" due to the New Southbound Policy, according to Hsia Hsiao-chuan, a professor at National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of Social Work. The expectation of cultivating Southeast Asia as they grow up and being restricted from speaking their mother tongue as children may be the root of the anxiety seen in disordered eating.

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