揭祕:爲何移民美國會迷戀高熱量食物

Immigrants and their US born children eat high-calorie food to prove their American-ness and to fit in, researchers say.

美國研究人員稱，海外移民及其子女爲融入美國社會，會吃熱量很高的食物，以便讓自己看起來更“美國”。

Corresponding author Sapna Cheryan of the University of Washington in Seattle and study co-author Maya Guendelman, a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, whose parents immigrated from Chile, suspected immigrants might use food as a way to appear more American.

華盛頓大學通訊作者薩普納 切爾揚以及畢業於加州大學伯克利分校的瑪雅 古恩德爾曼認爲海外移民有可能會利用食物讓自己看起來更像美國人，他們爲此專門展開了一項調查。瑪雅 古恩德爾曼的父母也是從智利移民到美國的。

The researchers surveyed Asian-American and white college students and found 68 percent of the Asian-American respondents recalled food-related insecurities around white peers while growing up, like awkwardness about using chopsticks. However, only 27 percent of white students remembered embarrassing food practices from childhood.

他們對亞裔學生和白人學生進行了調查。在走訪過程中，有68%的亞裔受訪者表示在他們的成長過程中，就餐並不是一件讓人感覺愉快的經歷，比如吃飯時他們用筷子，周圍的白人同伴就會覺得很奇怪。而僅有27%的白人學生稱自己小時候有過尷尬的就餐經歷。

In another study, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to select a dish to eat from local Asian and American restaurants, but before making the selection, researchers told some participants: "You have to be an American to be in this study," as a way of threatening the participants' American identity.

在另一項調查中，他們讓55名亞裔美國人選擇在亞洲餐館或美國餐館就餐，但在選擇之前，他們會假裝懷疑部分參與者的美國身份，並對他們說：“只有美國人才能參與這項調查。”

The study, scheduled to be published in the June issue of Psychological Science, finds those whose American identity was threatened chose more American dishes, such as hamburgers, than Asian-American participants not asked if they were American.

調查結果顯示，那些受到質疑的受訪者更傾向於選擇典型的美國食品，例如漢堡包，而沒有受到質疑的受訪者則不會。

The root of the problem is social pressures, not a lack self-control, Cheryan says.

切爾揚表示，產生這種現象的原因來自社會壓力，而不是這些受訪者缺乏自控能力。

"Being American is associated with being white," Cheryan said in a statement. "Americans who don't fit this image -- even if they were born here and speak English -- feel that pressure to prove that they're American."

他在一份聲明中說：“人們覺得美國人就該是白人，而那些移民後代雖然出生在美國，也講着英語，但由於外貌特徵不符合人們對美國人的傳統印象，就會感到壓力很大。”