An exploration of healthy eating and physical activity habits of Hmong high-school students by disability status: A pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundImmigrants are at risk of being obese from obesogenic environments and face factors which limit physical activity and healthy eating. While Hmong immigrants acknowledge the importance of healthy eating and physical activity, to our knowledge no studies have looked at health promoting behaviors among Hmong adolescents with and without disabilities. ObjectiveIn this paper, we seek to provide baseline data about physical activity and healthy eating among Hmong high school students with disabilities in Minnesota. MethodsWe used data from the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey. The study included responses from 1,824 Hmong high school students. We compared physical activity and healthy eating of Hmong high school students by disability status. ResultsApproximately 13% of Hmong had a disability (n = 239). A greater percentage of Hmong high school students with disabilities reported zero days of 60 min of physical activity (20.5% vs 14.8%, p < 0.10) and zero days participation in sports teams outside of school (69.0% vs. 64.3%, p < 0.10). Compared to Hmong students without disabilities, a significantly lower percentage of Hmong students with disabilities reported not receiving free/reduced lunch (66.5% vs 73.1%, p < 0.05) and significantly more likely to skip meals because their family did not have enough money (14.2% vs 9.7%, p < 0.05). ConclusionAdolescent Hmong with disabilities encounter both cultural and disability specific factors which could contribute to poorer health promoting behaviors. This study shines light on the need for social policy that promotes disability inclusive, culturally specific health promotion information and advocacy for immigrant youth with disabilities and their families in schools and communities.