The Role of Ethnicity in Shaping Dietary Patterns: A Review on the Social and Psychological Correlates of Food Consumption

Key Points: 1. Ethnicity and identification with the ethnic group is a cultural mediating and orienting framework, relevant for understanding individual food consumption behavior 2. Empirical evidence, within social and behavioral sciences, confirmed the relationship between ethnicity, food choices and dietary practices 3. There are important health implications of ethnicity and ethnic identification, in relation to food consumption patterns 4. Ethnic identity might play a crucial role in shaping (un)healthy behaviors across the lifespan, and particularly among younger generations 5. Different models for the explanation of individual food choices have been proposed in the field of cognitive and social psychology 6. Recent empirical studies have highlighted the role of identification with the ethnic group and social norms (e.g., perceived norms of the ethnic group) in predicting ethnic food choices