Food, Identity, and African-American Women With Type 2 Diabetes: An Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

Dietary practices are deeply rooted in history and culture. Anthropologists have long recognized that food choices and modes of eating reflect many symbolic, affective, familial, and gender-specific associations. African-American women with type 2 diabetes may find that modifying their dietary patterns is particularly challenging given the highly ritualized nature of eating and food selection and the meanings encoded in foods and food-centered events in the African-American experience. When health care providers understand the historical and social shaping of food patterns, they can work in partnership with people with type 2 diabetes to shift cultural norms toward healthy eating.