Abstract P233: Prevalence of Healthy Lifestyles by Country of Origin and Level of Acculturation among Diverse Hispanic/Latino Men and Women: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos

Abstract

Introduction: Hispanics/Latinos experience a high burden of CVD risk factors, particularly diabetes and obesity, and CVD is a leading cause of death in this ethnic group. Individual healthy lifestyle factors (HLF) - ideal weight, healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption and physical activity, and non-smoking are associated with favorable levels of CVD risk factors. Little data exist on prevalence of combined HLF among diverse Hispanics/Latinos with varying levels of acculturation. Hypothesis: Prevalence of all 5 HLF varies among Hispanic/Latino men and women of different backgrounds and levels of acculturation. Number of HLF will be higher with lower acculturation. Methods: HCHS/SOL participants (6164 men, 9356 women) ages 18-74. Five HLF were considered: BMI[[Unable to Display Character: ˂]]25kg/m2, healthy diet (highest sex-specific 40% of Alternate Healthy Eating Index), moderate physical activity (moderate-vigorous activity [[Unable to Display Character: ˃]]150 min/week; or vigorous activity [[Unable to Display Character: ˃]] 75 min/week), not currently smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption (men ≤30g/day; women ≤15g/day). Measures of acculturation included nativity, years resided in the US, and language preference. Prevalence of HLF was examined by gender, Hispanic/Latino background, and level of acculturation. Results: Prevalence of having all 5 HLF was low, i.e., only 3.0% in men and 4.4% in women; 18.3% and 22.0% had any four HLF. Among women, prevalence of 5 HLF was highest among Mexicans (7% of 3910), followed by Central (3.8% of 993) and South Americans (3.8% of 609), Cubans (2.3% of 1177), Dominicans (1.6% of 913), and Puerto Ricans (0.7% of 1497). Proportion of those US-born or who had resided in the US [[Unable to Display Character: ˃]]10 years was lower with higher number of HLF; proportion preferring Spanish was higher with higher number of HLF. For example, 17% of women with 5HLF (n=354) were US-born, vs. 40% of those with 0-1 HLF (n=444, all p-values: [[Unable to Display Character: ˂]]0.0001). Among men, Mexicans had highest prevalence of all 5 HLF (4.7% of 2333), followed by Central Americans (4.4% of 648), South Americans (2.4% of 411), Dominicans (1.5% of 474), Puerto Ricans (1.3% of 1057), and Cubans (1.2% of 1036). Among all men, there were no differences in number of HLF by levels of acculturation (p-values: 0.0007-0.019). Conclusions: Having all 5 HLF was low among all Hispanics/Latinos although this differed by Hispanic/Latino background. For women only, greater acculturation was associated with lower prevalence of having all 5 HLF; the lower the acculturation the higher the number of HLF. Public health efforts targeting adverse lifestyles are required to prevent cardiovascular risk factors and disease among Hispanic/Latinos.