Graduation Year

2015

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Hispanic Studies

Reader 1

Jennifer Wood

Reader 2

Marina Pérez de Mendiola

Reader 3

Rita Cano Alcalá

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2014 Allison M. Slater

Abstract

This study explores the sociological factors influencing the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American populations of the United States. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most important concerns in public health today, and is characterized by especially high prevalence in ethnic minority populations, particularly in Mexican-Americans. Type 2 diabetes is nearly entirely preventable through healthy diet and lifestyle, and currently represents an enormous financial burden to the health care system. Its unequal burden on the Mexican-American population is a reflection of a systematic failure to consider the sociological factors that affect the prevention and treatment of diabetes. This piece explores themes of acculturation into American society by Mexican immigrants, acculturative theories of health disparity, culturally specific attitudes towards health, diet, and diabetes, and cultural competency in the medical community.

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