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This thesis explores the everyday experiences and conceptualizations of 'the good life' among Congolese living in Nairobi, Kenya. Drawing on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2018/19, I argue that migrants in the city forge inclusion and wellbeing through the leveraging of fluid identities, development of social interdependencies, and cultivation of spaces of belonging. At the time I conducted research, and still to this day, the restrictions to formal employment and mobility put in place by the Government of Kenya presented significant barriers to both registered refugees and undocumented migrants. Restrictive governmental policies, along with the humanitarian imagery surrounding 'the refugee' figure- a suffering, passive, and unidimensional persona- belies the complex and vibrant lives of Congolese in the city. In this thesis I explore what it means to be a 'refugee' and 'Congolese', and how fluid constructs of identity are built and deconstructed through sartorial expression and consumerism. I highlight how socio-political exclusion is navigated through informality and social networks, and how the metropolis provides key spaces that are shaping and shaped by dynamic interplays between transnational mobility and global consumerism. On an epistemological level, I argue that to better understand the migrant experience, it is vital to learn what they themselves determine to be important and relevant in their lives. Situated within the 'anthropology of the good', this thesis presents an ethnographic reframing of narrow institutions and discourses surrounding the 'refugee persona', offering broader analytical parameters that consider values, preferences, aspirations, and strategies among Congolese in Nairobi for a life better than the one presented to them by the state and humanitarian regime. In doing so, I contribute to debates in the fields of Forced Migration, Aid and Humanitarianism, and African Studies by generating a greater understanding of the dynamism of forced migration and the aspirations and values of urban migrants on the margins of society.

The transition to college is marked by poorer eating behaviors. The Theory of planned behavior (TPB) represents a promising tool for predicting eating behaviors through the examination of attitudes (ATT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intention (INT). Despite prior application of the TPB, there exist several key methodological issues in the literature addressing eating behaviors. The present study utilized an enhanced dietary assessment methodology, the ASA24 dietary recall, and a short-term prospective design to assess the healthy eating behaviors of emerging adults in college. Dietary recalls of 68 participants (average age = 20.76 years; 70.6% female; 70.6% non-Hispanic, 48.5% White, 22.10% Black/African American, 13.20% Asian) were analyzed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 scoring system. Results revealed that very few college students are meeting recommended dietary guidelines. Linear regression indicated that the indirect TPB variables (ATT, SN, and PBC) were related to INT (F[3,64] = 19.67, p < .001), although SN did not account for unique variance. Further, the direct TPB variables (INT and PBC) were related to HEI-2010 scores (F[2,65] = 4.00, p = .023); however, only PBC accounted for significant variance. Overall, findings suggest that more favorable attitudes relate to intention, but only perceived behavioral control consistently relates to actual healthy eating behavior.

In order to better tailor treatment to specific populations, factors which contribute to health disparities among different racial/ethnic groups must be examined. Among Mexican American individuals, the high rate of diabetes represents a significant contributor to overall health. The present study focuses on factors affecting diabetes status among Mexican Americans born in either Mexico or the United States using the 2007 – 2008 NHANES data set. Comparisons were made between diabetes status based on self-report and clinical classification using HbA1c. Results indicated that within the diabetic subsample, Mexican Americans born in Mexico were twice as likely to be incorrectly classified as non-diabetic, when they actually were diabetic, when using a self-report method. In contrast, nativity did not result in differences in diabetes incidence using the HbA1c clinical cut-score diagnostic classification. Age, BMI, gender, nativity, and health insurance coverage were found to have varying relationships to diabetes prevalence and HbA1c levels, but time in the U.S. for Mexico-born individuals was not found to uniquely predict diabetes incidence. Analyses also demonstrated that Mexico-born males, as compared to the other groups, had significantly higher HbA1c levels. Further research is necessary to better understand the relationships among these factors. However, findings do demonstrate a need for more objective disease classification, particularly when examining immigration status and diabetes. Additionally, the complexity of these interactions establishes a need for specific health intervention for foreign-born populations which might be missed by self-report screening asking about presence of disease and exacerbated by an oversimplification of the “healthy immigrant effect”.