Migration and Westernized Diets: Food Expenditures in Mexican Migrant-Sending Households

• In Event: 242 - Section on International Migration Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 20. Migration and Development

Abstract

Economic development is linked to dietary change in developing countries, but we additionally consider the role of household exposure to migration. Using the 2002 and 2005 waves of the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we examined the relationship between exposure to U.S. migration on household food expenditures (N=6,810 households). The multivariate logistic regression results suggest that long-term and recent migration exposures are associated with greater monthly household food expenditures. Additionally, households with long-term and return migration exposure spend a greater portion of their food budget on westernized foods and luxury foods than households without migration exposure in Mexico. The results presented suggest an association between diet and migration and the importance role of migration in the nutrition transition.

Author

• Claire E. Altman, Rice University