This study investigates the extent to which the GHQ-12 exhibits configural, metric and scalar invariance across six ethnic groups in Britain and Northern Ireland, using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (N = 35 410).

A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out on a white British group in order to establish an adequate measurement model. Secondly, a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in order to assess measurement invariance. A sensitivity analysis comparing summated and latent means across groups was carried out. Finally, revised estimates of scale reliability were derived using two different methods.

A one-factor model including correlated error terms on the negatively phrased items showed superior fit in all ethnic groups. Tests for equal factor loadings and intercepts also showed adequate fit demonstrating metric and scalar invariance. Latent and summated scale estimates of mean group differences were similar for all groups. Scale reliability using McDonald's ω is lower than when using the more conventional Cronbach's α. Reliability across groups is reasonably consistent.

We find that the GHQ-12 does not display obvious bias in regard to ethnic groups in the UK and that valid comparisons across these groups can be made for the purposes of population research. Caution is needed when using as a screening tool for individuals.

K.B. is Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry, but has not played any role in the decision-making for this paper. K.B. leads and J.N. is a partner and K.H. a researcher in the Synergi Collaborative Centre.

Insight into the role of acculturation in dietary patterns is important to inform the development of nutrition programmes that target ethnic minority groups. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate how the adherence to dietary patterns within an ethnic minority population in the Netherlands varies by acculturation level compared with the host population.

Cross-sectional study using data of the HELIUS study. Dietary patterns were assessed with an ethnic-specific FFQ. Acculturation was operationalized using unidimensional proxies (residence duration, age at migration and generation status) as well as on the basis of the bidimensional perspective, defined by four distinct acculturation strategies: assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Participants of Dutch (n 1370) and Surinamese (n 1727) origin.

Three dietary patterns were identified: (i) ‘noodle/rice dishes and white meat’ (traditional Surinamese pattern); (ii) ‘red meat, snacks and sweets’; and (iii) ‘vegetables, fruit and nuts’. Surinamese-origin respondents adhered more to the traditional Surinamese pattern than the other dietary patterns. Neither the unidimensional proxies nor the bidimensional acculturation strategies demonstrated consistent associations with dietary patterns.

The lack of consistent association between acculturation and dietary patterns in the present study indicates that dietary patterns are quite robust. Understanding the continued adherence to traditional dietary patterns when developing dietary interventions in ethnic minority groups is warranted.

To investigate differences in overweight and obesity between first-generation Dutch-Ghanaian migrants in The Netherlands and their rural and urban counterparts in Ghana.

Cross-sectional study.

A total of 1471 Ghanaians (rural Ghanaians, n 532; urban Ghanaians, n 787; Dutch-Ghanaians, n 152) aged ≥17 years.

Overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2).

Dutch-Ghanaians had a significantly higher prevalence of overweight and obesity (men 69·1 %, women 79·5 %) than urban Ghanaians (men 22·0 %, women 50·0 %) and rural Ghanaians (men 10·3 %, women 19·0 %). Urban Ghanaian men and women also had a significantly higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than their rural Ghanaian counterparts. In a logistic regression analysis adjusting for age and education, the odds ratios for being overweight or obese were 3·10 (95 % CI 1·75, 5·48) for urban Ghanaian men and 19·06 (95 % CI 8·98, 40·43) for Dutch-Ghanaian men compared with rural Ghanaian men. Among women, the odds ratios for being overweight and obese were 3·84 (95 % CI 2·66, 5·53) for urban Ghanaians and 11·4 (95 % CI 5·97, 22·07) for Dutch-Ghanaians compared with their rural Ghanaian counterparts.

Our current findings give credence to earlier reports of an increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity with urbanization within Africa and migration to industrialized countries. These findings indicate an urgent need to further assess migration-related factors that lead to these increases in overweight and obesity among migrants with non-Western background, and their impact on overweight- and obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes among these populations.