US-Born Hispanics in Worse Health Than Mexican-Born Counterparts, Study Says

People with Mexican heritage born in the United States tend to be in worse health than those who immigrate to the US from Mexico, according to a recent study at the University of Southern California.

The study, published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Public Health, says that US-born Hispanics are more likely to develop health problems such as diabetes and high cholesterol.

Eileen Crimmins, professor of gerontology at USC, says that unhealthy American lifestyle habits, such as eating poorly and lack of exercise, may be a factor in the discrepancy between levels of health.

"The generation born here has adopted American traits such as smoking and eating at fast food restaurants that were not as accessible in more traditional parts of Mexico," Crimmins said in a press release.

The study contradicts a phenomenon mentioned in previous studies, known as the "Hispanic Paradox," which says that Hispanics born in the United States are healthier than the American white population, even though they have less education and income resources. The USC study, on the other hand, shows that US-born Hispanics are actually in worse health than whites. Mexican immigrants born in Mexico are at the same level of health as white people, according to the research. At greatest risk for disease is the American black population, according to the press release.

This may be partly because only healthy Mexican citizens tend to immigrate to the United States, Crimmins says, while those with health problems stay in their native country. Likewise, immigrants who fall ill may return to Mexico to recuperate.

Information for this study was collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) among adults 40 years of age or greater between 1999 and 2002. Body mass index (BMI) numbers were examined, as well as blood pressure readings and cholesterol levels. NHANES is a data-gathering effort by the Centers for Disease Control.

Researchers from both the USC Davis School of Gerontology and the UCLA School of Medicine were involved in the study.

Crimmins and her researchers are also working on a second study about the health of Mexican immigrants. The soon-to-be-published study concludes that Mexican immigrants who come to the United States tend to be taller, and generally had better nutrition as children, than those who stay in Mexico. This could mean that health is taken into consideration when deciding which immigrants are allowed entry into the US, the press release says. The new study will be published in Social Biology.

USC Press Release. "USC Study Compares Health of Hispanics." http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/14025.html

Centers for Disease Control - NHANES site. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm