Scoping review: examining the state of literature on international students' dietary acculturation in Canada


Abbigail Stronach, Trent University

International students are an integral part of Canada’s educational and economic landscape. In fact, international students were responsible for a $21.6 billion boost to Canada’s gross domestic product in 2018 (Firang and Mensah, 2022). Despite their obvious contributions to the economy, previous research suggests that this group often endures difficult acculturation experiences at the host country (country of their study), especially concerning their dietary habits. Dietary acculturation is the process of consuming foods that align with the dietary practices of those from the host country, and it is often a result of the stressful nature of immigrating to a new country and having to integrate into a new environment (Lesser et al., 2014; Sanou et al., 2014; Satia, 2010). Though important, this area of concern has been and continues to be under-researched. Using the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review framework, this scoping review identifies why international students in Canada face negative dietary acculturation experiences, discusses what those experiences look like, and proposes potential policies that could alleviate the stressful dietary challenges they may face. Conducting a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature regarding Canadian international students and comparing this literature with that of similar populations – Canadian immigrants and American international students – could potentially provide further insights to Canadian international students. Furthermore, identifying gaps in the existing literature may further aid in providing policy recommendations and directions for future research.

Non-presenting author: Eugena Kwon, Trent University

This paper will be presented at the following session: