What Is the Role of Weight (Dis)Satisfaction, Acculturative Stress, and Social Networks in BMI? An Exploration Among in Mexican Immigrants in New York City

TL;DR

This study explores how stress from adapting to a new culture and social networks affect BMI in Mexican immigrants in New York City.

Contribution

The study identifies legal-status-related acculturative stress as a key factor in BMI and reveals a protective role of socially diverse networks.

Findings

Higher acculturative stress and weight dissatisfaction are linked to increased BMI among Mexican immigrants.

Perceiving more overweight/obese social network members is associated with lower individual BMI.

Legal-status-related stress, not general acculturation, significantly impacts BMI.

Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
Acculturative stress and weight dissatisfaction jointly contribute to higher BMI among Mexican immigrants, underscoring the importance of psychosocial determinants in shaping obesity risk.Perceptions of social network members’ body size significantly predict BMI, with individuals reporting more overweight/obese alters showing lower BMI—revealing a nuanced and culturally contextualized role of social norms in immigrant health.

Acculturative stress and weight dissatisfaction jointly contribute to higher BMI among Mexican immigrants, underscoring the importance of psychosocial determinants in shaping obesity risk.

Perceptions of social network members’ body size significantly predict BMI, with individuals reporting more overweight/obese alters showing lower BMI—revealing a nuanced and culturally contextualized role of social norms in immigrant health.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
Findings demonstrate that legal-status-related acculturative stress—rather than general acculturation—exerts a measurable impact on BMI, highlighting a structural stressor with biological and behavioral consequences.The inverse relationship between perceived network overweight and individual BMI challenges conventional “obesity contagion” assumptions, suggesting that networks may also serve as normative buffers promoting body acceptance and potentially mitigating stress-related weight gain.

Findings demonstrate that legal-status-related acculturative stress—rather than general acculturation—exerts a measurable impact on BMI, highlighting a structural stressor with biological and behavioral consequences.

The inverse relationship between perceived network overweight and individual BMI challenges conventional “obesity contagion” assumptions, suggesting that networks may also serve as normative buffers promoting body acceptance and potentially mitigating stress-related weight gain.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Obesity interventions for immigrant communities must address structural stressors, including immigration-related insecurity and discrimination, which amplify weight dissatisfaction and contribute to higher BMI.Public health strategies should leverage the protective potential of social networks, recognizing that culturally aligned, body-size-diverse networks may reduce weight-related distress and offer resilience against thin-ideal pressures.

Obesity interventions for immigrant communities must address structural stressors, including immigration-related insecurity and discrimination, which amplify weight dissatisfaction and contribute to higher BMI.

Public health strategies should leverage the protective potential of social networks, recognizing that culturally aligned, body-size-diverse networks may reduce weight-related distress and offer resilience against thin-ideal pressures.

Acculturation and social networks shape ideals of weight perception, given that the construct is steeped in cultural perceptions of beauty and norms. This study leverages social network data from New York City (n = 80participants; 1600network members) who were asked “Would you like to weigh more, less, or stay the same?” as well as questions regarding their acculturation stress levels and the perceived weight of social network members. Body Mass Index (BMI) was objectively measured. Regression models evaluated the association between BMI, weight satisfaction, and acculturation stress, net of sociodemographic variables, weight loss attempts, and health behaviors. Those who were dissatisfied with their weight and experienced high acculturation stress had a significantly higher BMI (β = 5.4, 2.8–8.1, p < 0.001) in the fully adjusted model. However, with every 25% increase in the perception of network members with obesity/overweight, there was a significant decrease in individual BMI. No other social network variables were significantly associated with BMI. More research is needed among Latinos/as across the acculturative stress spectrum to fully understand how social norms regarding weight affect both social networks and individuals, as well as how these might be influenced by cross-cultural differences between US and Latino/a norms regarding ideal weight perceptions.

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