Latinos navigate food, identity
By Ashly Lopez, April 21, 2026
Food often symbolizes love, tradition, and togetherness at family gatherings in many Latino households. Plates are filled generously, and declining to eat or indulge in a second serving can sometimes be seen as disrespectful.
However, such cultural expectations can also complicate conversations around eating. According to the National Library of Medicine, it is estimated that 0.46% of Hispanic adults will at some point in adulthood meet criteria for anorexia nervosa, 0.24% for bulimia nervosa and 0.75% for binge eating disorder.
For CPP alumna Annaly Vera, expectations around food began early in childhood. Vera, who thinks of herself as naturally thin, said she has struggled with gaining weight and faced ongoing scrutiny about her body. She said she often endured comments from family members describing her body as “too thin” or “sickly,” which left her feeling self-conscious and insecure.
“From a young age in my family we were always taught to not be rude, eat when food was offered, and to finish our plate of food entirely, even if we were full or didn’t like the food,” Vera said. “Not eating or finishing our meals was seen as a sign of ungratefulness to my parents. I remember my brother being physically disciplined for not wanting to eat his food. That stood with me, so I always made sure to eat everything.”
Vera’s experience reflects a complex cultural narrative, where food becomes both an expression of love and a source of pressure.
Psychologist Sonia Ardon said family traditions surrounding food often come from intergenerational experiences. In many immigrant families, food insecurity and economic hardship can shape attitudes toward eating.
“In Latin family structures and culture, not finishing food or declining food is often viewed as offensive due to factors their immigrant parents endured in their countries of origin where food was scarce and one had to work very hard to make enough money to feed their families,” Ardon said.
While these traditions reflect cultural values and family care, Ardon said they can also shape how some young people understand hunger, fullness and body image, sometimes contributing to disordered eating behaviors that often go unnoticed in Latinx communities since only a small percentage seek professional treatment.
NIH studies further indicate Hispanic adults seek treatment less often than their non-Hispanic White counterparts across all eating disorder diagnoses, citing the most influential barriers to accessing care reported was cost of treatment, eating disorder stigma, eating disorder shame and mental health shame.
Ardon said nicknames, such as “gordo,” “flaca” or “comelon” given to children from a very young age, even when intended affectionately, can shape how children perceive their bodies and contribute to long-term body image issues.
CPP Professor of Ethnic and Women’s Studies Álvaro Huerta said many young Latinos grow up navigating two cultural environments: traditional family expectations around food and body image as well as Western beauty standards reinforced through media and social platforms. Huerta noted these often-conflicting ideals can create added pressure to conform to a certain body type.
“Parents, they’re psychologically damaging their kids, and they don’t even notice it,” Huerta said. “They use nicknames as a term of endearment. They’ll say, ‘Te miras muy flaco come mas,’ They see it differently because they operate in a cultural bubble where that’s accepted, separate from society. Then, you see influential artists, who in my opinion are super thin. Their followers might think, ‘That’s what I have to look like to be beautiful.’”
Huerta added the complex nature of traditional cultural households and Western beauty standards can contribute to a psychological breakdown. As individuals navigate these conflicting expectations, internalize their emotions, it can lead to self-deprecation and negative self-perception.
“The context is important,” Huerta said. “In society I’m thin. That’s what society wants, but I grew up in the projects, and there, it’s a negative characteristic in that context. It’s all within the context of the environment and the context they’re operating in. It’s a gender thing, too. For girls, it’s a greater pressure to conform in terms of how they look.”
Huerta said as conversations continue, confronting the rise of eating disorders in Latino communities means reexamining long-held cultural norms while creating space for healthier, more inclusive definitions of body image.
Students, faculty and staff who may be experiencing body image concerns or disordered eating can seek support through CPP’s Counseling and Psychological Services, which offers confidential counseling and mental health resources for the campus community.
Feature graphic courtesy of Connor Lālea Hampton