Abstract
BackgroundStudies suggest that US Latinos have a higher prevalence of obesity than White Americans. However, obesity may differ by pre-immigration factors and Latinos’ cultural representations of ideal body image. This paper explores whether country of origin’s stage in the nutrition transition is related to Latino immigrants’ BMI category and self-perception of weight.MethodsPrimary data originated from a cross-sectional questionnaire of Latina/o immigrants in Baltimore in 2011. A convenience sample of self-identified Latinos, ≥18 years old, living in Baltimore was recruited from a community-based organization. Data for each country represented in the sample were obtained from the WHO Demographic and Health Surveys and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Each country was scored for its stage in the nutrition transition using a six-point scoring system. Descriptive statistics were conducted to characterize the sample. Bivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the outcome variables and the predictors. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to examine whether a country’s stage in the nutrition transition increased one’s odds of having an obese BMI score (≥30 kg/cm2) and perceiving one’s weight as overweight, while controlling for socio-demographic variables.ResultsThe sample (n = 149) consisted of immigrants from 12 Latin American countries. Participants lived in the US for x=10.24 years. About 40% of the sample had BMI ≥30 kg/m2 (obese). The longer Latina immigrants’ lived in the US, the less likely their country of origin’s nutrition transition score would increase their odds of having a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 (OR = 0.97 p < 0.04). The higher the country of origin’s nutrition transition score, the more likely BMI influenced Latino immigrants’ perception of their weight as above normal (OR = 1.06, p < 0.04). The effect of the nutrition transition score had a stronger effect on females than males.ConclusionThese results suggest that country of origin’s nutrition transition score and gender affect Latino immigrants’ objective and subjective measures of weight. Future investigation should investigate the relationship between gender and the nutrition transition in Latin America and how the nutrition transition globalizes obesity and weight consciousness.
Highlights
Studies suggest that United States (US) Latinos have a higher prevalence of obesity than White Americans
Over half of sample originated from a Central American country
We were able to obtain all of the data necessary to complete the nutrition transition six-point scoring system [20] for all 12 countries represented in the sample for the year 2008
Summary
Studies suggest that US Latinos have a higher prevalence of obesity than White Americans. As is the case with many of the world’s nations, several Latin American countries have experienced a steady increase of overweight/obesity among its urban and rural populations [11,12]. Since the 1980s, Mexico has documented an increase in obesity in urban areas and continued malnutrition in the some rural areas [13]. This phenomenon, often labeled as “the nutrition transition” [13,14,15,16], is marked by the prevalence of overweight/obesity surpassing malnutrition and an increase in deaths from non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD) in low- and middle-income countries. Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and the Dominican Republic are considered to be advancing in the nutrition transition because since 2000 these countries have had an increasing prevalence of obesity, increased proportion of dietary intake from fat, reducing prevalence of infant mortality and stunting, and increasing NCD mortality [20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28]
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