US-born Mexican Americans Research Articles

Examining the Long-Run Impacts of Racial Terror with Data on Historical Lynchings of Mexicans in Texas

We merge the longitudinally linked historical US Census records with data on lynchings of Hispanics in Texas to investigate the impacts of historical lynchings of ethnic Mexicans in Texas on US-born Mexican Americans. Using variation in lynching incidents across counties over time, we explore the impacts of local exposure to lynchings during childhood on long-run outcomes such as earnings, education, and home ownership of adults in 1940. Our findings are suggestive of small, negative impacts, but we caution that more research in this area is needed for a more robust interpretation of the results.

Identity negotiations of a Mexican transnational in the Rio Grande Valley: Crossing the border daily

This narrative case study examines the cultural affiliations of one transnational US-born Mexican American college student, and her various intersecting veins of identity. The aim was to capture the bordered existence in the many criteria of her being. Her linguistic identity, pop culture identity, spiritual identity, as well as her general cultural affiliations are examined as intersecting rays of influence. Utilizing Anzaldúa’s (2012) bordered identity as theoretical grounding for her partitioned selves, along with Bakhtin’s (1986) notion of cultural and linguistic dialogue, we analyzed the complexities in this one bicultural, bilingual young woman venturing into adulthood. This study sheds light on the experiences and identifications of transnational young people living on the US-Mexico border. In particular, the participant seemed to continuously challenge fixed notions of identity, which contest current academic labels and frameworks that scholars have used to examine the identity of transnational students.

Incidence of Etiology-specific Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Diverging Trends and Significant Heterogeneity by Race and Ethnicity

The main causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include chronic hepatitis C and B viral infections (HCV, HBV), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and alcohol-related disease (ALD). Etiology-specific HCC incidence rates and temporal trends on a population-basis are needed to improve HCC control and prevention. All 14,420 HCC cases from the Florida statewide cancer registry were individually linked to data from the hospital discharge agency and the viral hepatitis department to determine the predominant etiology of each case diagnosed during 2010 to 2018. Age-adjusted incidence rates (AAIRs) were used to assess the intersection between etiology and detailed race-ethnicity. Etiology-specific temporal trends based on diagnosis year were assessed using Joinpoint regression. HCV remains the leading cause of HCC among men, but since 2017 NAFLD-HCC is the leading cause among women. HCV-HCC AAIRs are particularly high among U.S.-born minority men, including Puerto Rican (10.9 per 100,000), African American (8.0 per 100,000), and U.S.-born Mexican American men (7.6 per 100,000). NAFLD is more common among all Hispanics and Filipinos and HBV-HCC among Asian and Haitian black men. HCV-HCC surpasses HBV-HCC in Asian women. ALD-HCC is high among specific Hispanic male groups. Population-based HCV-HCC rates experienced a rapid decline since 2015 (-9.6% annually), whereas ALD-HCC (+6.0%) and NAFLD-HCC (+4.3%) are rising (P < .05). New direct acting anti-viral drugs have impacted rates of HCV-HCC, offsetting important increases in both ALD- and NAFLD-HCC. Hispanics may be a group of concern because of higher rates for ALD- and NAFLD-HCC. HCC etiology varies remarkably and may warrant specific interventions by detailed race-ethnicity.

Propensity Scores in Health Disparities Research: The Example of Cognitive Aging and the Hispanic Paradox.

Individuals of Mexican ancestry in the United States experience substantial socioeconomic disadvantages compared with non-Hispanic white individuals; however, some studies show these groups have similar dementia risk. Evaluating whether migration selection factors (e.g., education) associated with risk of Alzheimer disease and related dementia (ADRD) explain this paradoxical finding presents statistical challenges. Intercorrelation of risk factors, common with social determinants, could make certain covariate patterns very likely or unlikely to occur for particular groups, which complicates their comparison. Propensity score (PS) methods could be leveraged here to diagnose nonoverlap and help balance exposure groups. We compare conventional and PS-based methods to examine differences in cognitive trajectories between foreign-born Mexican American, US-born Mexican American, and US-born non-Hispanic white individuals in the Health and Retirement Study (1994-2018). We examined cognition using a global measure. We estimated trajectories of cognitive decline from linear mixed models adjusted for migration selection factors also associated with ADRD risk conventionally or with inverse probability weighting. We also employed PS trimming and match weighting. In the full sample, where PS overlap was poor, unadjusted analyses showed both Mexican ancestry groups had worse baseline cognitive scores but similar or slower rates of decline compared with non-Hispanic white adults; adjusted findings were similar, regardless of method. Focusing analyses on populations where PS overlap was improved (PS trimming and match weighting) did not alter conclusions. Attempting to equalize groups on migration selection and ADRD risk factors did not explain paradoxical findings for Mexican ancestry groups in our study.

Metabolic Risk and Depression among Elderly Mexican Americans: The Roles of Nativity Status.

To evaluate the relationship between metabolic risk (MR) and depression in a sample of older Mexican Americans and examine whether the association differs by age at migration. Longitudinal study using data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE) (N=807, mean age = 84.3). The analytical sample was compiled from wave 6 (2007) to wave 7 (2010-2011) of HEPESE. Random-effect logistic regression examined the association between MR and depression and tested the model stratified by nativity status and age at migration. MR was associated with higher odds of depression for US-born Mexican Americans after controlling for potential confounders. Similarly, among Mexican Americans who migrated before age 20, MR was associated with higher odds of depression. The findings highlight the importance of age at migration when evaluating the health of foreign-born Mexican Americans from a life-course perspective. Particularly among Mexican Americans who migrated before age 20, those with MR were more vulnerable to depression than their counterparts without MR.

An extended evaluation of the weathering hypothesis for birthweight

Background: Prior weathering research finds that US-born Black women experience more rapidly deteriorating birthweight outcomes at older ages than US-born White women. Objective: The present study extends this literature by evaluating maternal age–birthweight associations across a variety of racial/ethnic-nativity groups. Methods: Race/ethnicity-nativity stratified average marginal effects of maternal age on low and very low birthweight are estimated using data from 2014 through 2018 US cohort natality files. Results: Older maternal ages at birth are associated with higher probabilities of low and very low birthweight for most racial/ethnic-nativity groups. Consistent with the weathering hypothesis, birth at older maternal ages (e.g., 30‒34 or 40+) is more predictive of low and very low birthweight for US-born Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and US-born Mexican American women than for US-born Whites. In contrast, some foreign-born populations exhibit relatively weak relationships between maternal age and low birthweight, suggesting the role of healthy immigrant selection. Contribution: Some disadvantaged racial/ethnic-nativity groups ‒ US-born Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and US-born Mexican American women ‒ exhibit more rapid increases in the risk of low birthweight at older maternal ages than US-born White women. These patterns are consistent with the weathering hypothesis. Future research may benefit from using linked family data and sibling modeling approaches to estimate causal models of weathering.

Consequential identities: Mexicans in the US and Turks in Europe

ABSTRACT Edward Telles and Christina Sue’s Durable Ethnicity: Mexican Americans and the Ethnic Core makes a key contribution to academic, social and political debates on international migration, assimilation, ethnicity, and identities. This novel account of Mexican Americans’ manifestation of ethnicity draws on 70 qualitative interviews and a random sample of about 1500 US-born Mexican Americans. Written fluently and in a moving style, it probes the “cultural assimilability and Americanness” of Mexican Americans. This research and its findings are relevant to a broader range of audiences in the US and are of special interest to academic and public debates on immigration and integration in Europe. In what follows, I will reflect on the book’s main findings and conclusions and review the newly developed symbolic-consequential ethnicity scale. I will conclude by discussing the relevance of the findings for the European migration experience and suggest the need for comparative research.

Differences in the prevalence of modifiable risk and protective factors for prostate cancer by race and ethnicity in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Prostate cancer burden is disproportionate by race. Black men have the highest incidence and mortality rates. Rates for Hispanic men are significantly lower than for non-Hispanic Whites. Whether differences in prevalences of modifiable risk and protective factors for prostate cancer may explain these racial/ethnic differences remains unclear. We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which are cross-sectional and nationally representative. We selected factors known or suspected to be associated with prostate cancer and calculated risk scores combining key factors. Age-adjusted means and proportions were calculated for each factor and risk score by race/ethnicity. We estimated odds ratios (OR) using polytomous logistic regression. Prevalences of most factors are statistically significantly differed by race/ethnicity. In NHANES III, the prevalence of high risk score (i.e., > 25th percentile for all participants) was lower for all groups (non-Hispanic Black = 59.4%, non-US-born Mexican American = 51.4%, US-born Mexican American = 61.4%) vs. non-Hispanic White men (76.4%). Similar findings were observed for the fatal weighted risk score and for continuous NHANES. Our findings from this nationally representative study suggest that a combination of multiple risk and protective factors may help to explain the lower rates of prostate cancer in Mexican Americans. However, variation in these factors did not explain the higher risk of prostate cancer in non-Hispanic Black men. No one lifestyle change can reduce prostate cancer equally across all racial/ethnic groups, and modifiable factors may not explain the increased risk in black men at all. Secondary prevention strategies may provide the most benefit for black men.

Abstract C084: Cancer mortality patterns across three generations of Latinos in the US: The Multiethnic Cohort

Abstract Background: Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States. To provide better understanding of the influence of acculturation and environmental factors on cancer risks in Latinos, we examined cancer mortality patterns across 1st-generation (1°) immigrants, and 2nd- (2°) and 3rd-generation (3°) US-born Mexican Americans in the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC). Methods: A total of 29,308 Latinos of Mexican origin aged 45-74 at cohort entry (1993-1996) were included in this analysis. Latino generations included 41% 1° Mexico-born immigrants, 28% 2° US-born with both parents Mexico-born, 14% 2° US-born with one parent US-born and one parent Mexico-born, and 17% 3° US-born with both parents US-born. Age-adjusted death rates were estimated across Latino generation. Cox models were used to estimate the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for cancer mortality associated with generation, adjusted for risk factors for cancer mortality (e.g., obesity, smoking history, alcohol intake) at cohort baseline. Results: During an average follow up of 17.7 years, 2,915 cancer deaths were identified. The highest cancer death rate (per 100,000) was observed among 3° US-born (age-adjusted rate=537), followed by 2° with one parent US-born (526), 2° with both parents Mexico-born (481) and lowest among 1° immigrants (381). After adjusting for education, lifestyle factors and preexisting illnesses, Latino generation was associated with cancer mortality risk (P trend&amp;lt;0.0001). The risk for 3° US-born, 2° one parent US-born, and 2° both parents Mexico-born was significantly higher compared to 1° immigrants (RR=1.37 (95% CI: 1.21-1.54), 1.27 (1.12-1.44), and 1.20 (1.08-1.33), respectively). Restricting analyses to the MEC-Medicare enrollees, for whom we have data indicating they are living in the US and eligible for national health insurance coverage, yielded similar results. In specific cancer site analyses, there were associations between generation with lung (P trend=0.014), colorectal (P trend=0.004), liver (P trend=0.006) and possibly breast cancer (P trend=0.053). The risks of lung [RR=1.46 (1.09-1.97)], colorectal [RR=1.95 (1.28-2.95)] and liver cancer [RR=1.87 (1.22-2.85)] deaths were significantly higher among the 3° US-born compared to 1° Mexico-born immigrants. The risks of prostate, stomach, and pancreatic cancers were similar across generations. Conclusions: In the MEC, Latinos experience an increase in lung, colorectal, liver, and possibly breast cancer mortality with increasing generation, indicating acculturation and environmental influences on these cancers. Identification of the contributing risk factors is important to reverse the trends of increasing mortality across offspring generations of Latinos living in the US. Citation Format: Veronica Wendy Setiawan, Mariana Stern, Unhee Lim, David Conti, Christopher Haiman, Kristine Monroe. Cancer mortality patterns across three generations of Latinos in the US: The Multiethnic Cohort [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C084.

NATIVITY AND DISABILITY TRAJECTORIES AMONG TWO COHORTS

Nativity is an important characteristic in the context of disability in older adults, as it may influence attitudes and behaviors that can delay or accelerate the disability process. This study aims to assess trajectories of disability (defined as lower-body functional limitations, limitations in daily and instrumental activities of daily living, and gross mobility) in foreign-born and US-born Mexican Americans between 1993 and 2013. We used eight waves (1993 -2013) from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE; N=3050, mean age at baseline=73.6 (±6.8). Disability was assessed using self-reported limitations in activities of daily living (ADL /IADL). Nativity and age-at-migration were collected by self-report. We used linear and quadratic growth curve models to evaluate the trajectory of ADL/IADL disability over a period of 20 years and assessed variations by nativity status while adjusting for potential confounders. Approximately 19% of foreign-born and 17% of US-born reported having at least one ADL, while 51.5% natives and 58.7% of foreign-born had at least one IADL. Our results showed that after controlling for age at baseline, sex, marital status, self-reported health, chronic conditions, and education, foreign-born older adults were less likely to have ADL/IADL disability at baseline, but exhibited a faster rate of increase in disability over time (β =0.31 for ADL, β=0.07 for IADL). Our findings show that foreign-born older adults are accumulating disability at faster compared with their native peers, highlighting the importance of evaluating nativity differences in the health outcomes of Hispanic population at old age.

Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites by Immigration Status.

To compare prevalence rates of alcohol, nicotine, and other drug use and major psychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder, persistent depression, bipolar I disorder, agoraphobia, social and specific phobias, and antisocial, schizotypal, and borderline personality disorders) between US-born and foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites and between early entry versus later-entry foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Data were derived from face-to-face interviews in the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (N = 36,309). US-born Mexican Americans and US-born non-Hispanic whites were at greater risk (P < .05) of alcohol, nicotine, and any drug use and their associated disorders and other DSM-5 psychiatric disorders relative to their foreign-born counterparts. US-born non-Hispanic whites were more likely (P < .05) to use substances and develop many psychiatric disorders relative to US-born Mexican Americans. Foreign-born Mexican Americans < 18 years old at immigration were at greater risk of drug use, drug use disorders, and nicotine use disorder compared with foreign-born Mexican Americans ≥ 18 years old at immigration. Foreign-born non-Hispanic whites < 18 years old at immigration were more likely to use substances and to develop many psychiatric disorders relative to foreign-born non-Hispanic whites ≥ 18 years old at immigration. Taken together, the findings of this study support the healthy immigrant hypothesis and adverse role of acculturation for US-born and foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Further research is warranted on immigration status and age at arrival into the United States and those processes underlying differential exposure to substances and development of psychiatric conditions. An understanding of these processes can be invaluable to clinicians in guiding culturally sensitive and informed prevention and intervention efforts.

A US/Mexico Study of Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior on Anthropometric Indicators, Migration Status, Country of Birth and Country of Residence.

Background: This study examined the influence of migration status, nativity and country of residence on joint associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in anthropometric indicators of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in the US and in Mexico. Methods: We examined data from two large national surveys, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from the US (NHANES, 2011–2012) and Mexico (ENSANUT, 2012). Using self-reported minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity and SB, we calculated four categories for analyses. Anthropometric measures consisted of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). We used data of migration status, nativity and country of residence. Linear regression models examined how joint categories of PA and SB were associated with BMI and WC according to migration status, nativity and country of residence, controlling for health risk behaviors. Results: Analyses showed that even among those in the category with the lowest risk behavior, “physically active and low sedentary”, there were differences in BMI and WC by migration status, nativity and country of residence. Within this lower risk category, Mexican immigrants living in the US had the greatest association with high BMI, while US-born Mexican-Americans living in the US had the highest WC values when compared with the group of Mexicans living in Mexico. Conclusions: Joint categories of PA and SB were associated with BMI and WC by migration status, nativity and country of residence among populations with Mexican ethnicity.

Latino Group Consciousness as a Resource

This study examines the role that identity as a racialized minority plays in the life decisions and careers of Mexican Americans three generations after immigration. Life and family histories were obtained from interviews with third-generation adult Mexican Americans and their second-generation parents, from twenty-eight families of varying socioeconomic status. The expressive forms of pan-Latino group consciousness among these US-born Mexican Americans were found to relate to individual and family patterns of social mobility, with those in high-skilled professions more inclined than their working-class counterparts to frame their occupational choices as a commitment to bettering the prospects of poorer Hispanics. Upwardly mobile respondents expressed a sense of “linked fate” with poorer and immigrant Latinos as fellow members of a racialized minority, and this often shaped their career decisions. At the same time, continued engagement with Latino cultures and immigrant communities enabled some middle-class respondents to build unique forms of human, social, and cultural capital that enhanced their career opportunities. Following recent developments in Latino critical race theory, I propose the term “Latino identity capital” to identify the socially constructed resources developed by Mexican Americans as they adapt to their situation as upwardly mobile members of a racialized minority.

The Hispanic Paradox: Race/Ethnicity and Nativity, Immigrant Enclave Residence and Cognitive Impairment Among Older US Adults.

Hispanics, and particularly foreign-born Mexican Americans, have been shown to fare better across a range of health outcomes than might be expected given the generally higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage in this population, a phenomena termed the "Hispanic Paradox". Previous research on social disparities in cognitive aging, however, has been unable to address both race/ethnicity and nativity (REN) in a nationally-representative sample of US adults leaving unanswered questions about potentially "paradoxical" advantages of Mexican ethnic-origins and the role of nativity, socioeconomic status (SES), and enclave residence. We employ biennial assessments of cognitive functioning to study prevalent and incident cognitive impairment (CI) within the three largest US REN groups: US-born non-Hispanic whites (US-NHW), US-born non-Hispanic blacks (US-NHB), US-born Mexican Americans (US-MA), and foreign-born Mexican Americans (FB-MA). Data come from a nationally-representative sample of community-dwelling older adults in the Health and Retirement Study linked with the 2000 Census and followed over 10years (N=8,433). Large disadvantages in prevalent and incident CI were observed for all REN minorities respective to US-born non-Hispanic whites. Individual and neighborhood SES accounted substantially for these disadvantages and revealed an immigrant advantage: FB-MA odds of prevalent CI were about half those of US-NHW and hazards of incident CI were about half those of US-MA. Residence in an immigrant enclave was protective of prevalent CI among FB-MA. The findings illuminate important directions for research into the sources of cognitive risk and resilience and provide guidance about CI screening within the increasingly diverse aging US population.

Understanding patterns of contraceptive use among never married Mexican American women

Author(s): Choi, KH; Hamilton, ER | Abstract: BACKGROUND Non-marital fertility differs considerably by race, ethnicity, and nativity. These differences arise largely from racial and ethnic disparities in contraceptive practices. Empirical work has not assessed the relative importance of the various mechanisms proposed to account for racial, ethnic, and nativity differences in contraceptive behavior among never married women. OBJECTIVE Our objective is to describe racial, ethnic, and nativity disparities in contraceptive practices and determine the relative importance of the various mechanisms proposed to explain those disparities among never married, non-cohabiting women. METHODS Pooling data from the 2006-2010 and 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we compare the age- and parity-standardized patterns of contraceptive use among never married, non-cohabiting Mexican immigrants, US-born Mexican Americans, Blacks, and Whites. We also examine the extent to which socioeconomic characteristics, access to family planning, and attitudes towards family life give rise to group differences in patterns of contraceptive use. RESULTS Never married, non-cohabiting Whites are more likely than their minority counterparts to use very effective methods of contraception. Socioeconomic disparities explain some of the group differences in contraceptive practice. Differing levels of access to family planning also explain a significant portion of the difference in contraceptive practice between Whites and Mexican immigrants. CONCLUSION Policies aimed at alleviating socioeconomic inequality and differential access to family planning services may be effective at reducing disparities in contraceptive use between White and non-White never married, non-cohabiting women, especially White/Mexican-immigrant differences.

Abdominal Wall Defects among Mexican American Infants: The Effect of Maternal Nativity.

US-born Mexican American women have greater rates of preterm birth and consequent overall infant mortality than their Mexico-born peers. However, the relation of Mexican American women's nativity to rates of congenital anomalies is poorly understood. Hispanic ethnicity and young maternal age are well-known risk factors for gastroschisis. To determine the extent to which nativity of Mexican American women is associated with abdominal wall defects. Stratified and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed on the 2003-2004 National Center for Health Statistics linked live birth-infant death cohort. Only Mexican American infants were studied. Maternal variables examined included nativity, age, education, marital status, parity, and prenatal care usage. Infants with US-born Mexican American mothers (n=451,272) had an abdominal wall defect rate of 3.9/10,000 compared with 2.0/10,000 for those with Mexico-born mothers (n=786,878), RR=1.9 (1.5-2.4). Though a greater percentage of US-born (compared wtih Mexico-born) Mexican American mothers were teens, the nativity disparity was actually widest among women in their 20s. The adjusted (controlling for maternal age, education, marital status, parity, and prenatal care) odds ratio of abdominal wall defects among infants of US-born (compared with Mexico-born) Mexican American mothers was 1.6 (1.2-2.0). US-born Mexican American women have nearly a two-fold greater rate of delivering an infant with an abdominal wall defect than their Mexico-born counterparts. This phenomenon is only partially explained by traditional risk factors and highlights a detrimental impact of lifelong residence in the United States, or something closely related to it, on the pregnancy outcome of Mexican American women.

Trends in racial/ethnic disparities in overweight self-perception among US adults, 1988-1994 and 1999-2008.

Weight self-perceptions, or how a person perceives his/her weight status, may affect weight outcomes. We use nationally representative data from 1988-1994 and 1999-2008 to examine racial/ethnic disparities in weight self-perceptions and understand how disparities have changed over time. Using data from two time periods, 1988-1994 and 1999-2008, we calculated descriptive statistics, multivariate logistic regression models and predicted probabilities to examine trends in weight self-perceptions among Whites, Blacks, US-born Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants to the USA. Setting National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-1994) and continuous NHANES (1999-2008). Adult NHANES participants aged 18 years and older (n 37 050). The likelihood of self-classifying as overweight declined between 1988-1994 and 1999-2008 among all US adults, despite significant increases in mean BMI and overweight prevalence. Trends in weight self-perceptions varied by gender and between racial/ethnic groups. Whites in both time periods were more likely than racial/ethnic minorities to perceive themselves as overweight. After adjustment for other factors, disparities in weight self-perceptions between Whites and Blacks of both genders grew between survey periods (P<0·05), but differences between overweight White women and Mexican immigrants decreased (P<0·05). Weight self-perceptions have changed during the obesity epidemic in the USA, but changes have not been consistent across racial/ethnic groups. Secular declines in the likelihood of self-classifying as overweight, particularly among Blacks, are troubling because weight self-perceptions may affect weight-loss efforts and obesity outcomes.

Abstract MP96: High Sedentary Activity Mediates the Association of Acculturation and Obesity in Mexican-American Adults: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2010

Background: Higher levels of acculturation are associated with both higher leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and higher obesity rates. However, few studies have examined associations of acculturation with other types of activity. Moreover, the extent to which these activities mediate relationships between acculturation and obesity is unknown. We examined associations of acculturation with four types of activity (moderate-vigorous LTPA, moderate-vigorous work- and transportation-related physical activity, and sedentary activity), and we tested whether these types of activity mediate the acculturation-obesity association among Mexican-American (MA) adults. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from 1,982 NHANES 2007-2010 MA participants aged 20+ years. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) models were used to estimate associations of acculturation (based on nativity and length of residence in the US) with type of activity. Structural equation modeling was used to quantify the extent to which the four types of activity mediate the association of acculturation with obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m 2 ). Results: Foreign-born (FB) MAs had lower mean minutes per week of LTPA and sedentary activity but higher mean minutes of work and transportation activity, compared to US-born MAs. After adjusting for age, age 2 , gender, education and employment status in the MLR analyses, FB MAs living in the US &lt; 10 years were significantly less likely to perform recommended levels of LTPA (≥150 minutes/week) (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR): 0.67; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49, 0.92), but they were less likely to be sedentary (RRR: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.26) and more likely to engage in high transportation- (RRR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.22) and work-related activities (RRR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.40) than US-born MAs. Adjusted MLR analyses also showed that FB MAs living in the US ≥ 10 years were more likely to perform high transportation activity (RRR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.81) and less likely to engage in high sedentary activity (RRR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.35) than US-born MAs. FB MAs living in the US &lt; 10 years and ≥ 10 years were both less likely to be obese compared to US-born MAs in sociodemographic-adjusted models. Sedentary activity was the strongest mediator of the acculturation-obesity association, accounting for 19.2% and 31.3% of the total effect of acculturation on obesity among FB MAs living in the US &lt;10 years and ≥10 years, respectively, compared to US-born MAs. The direct effect of acculturation on obesity (i.e., independent of all measured mediators and confounders) remained significant for both FB MAs living in the US &lt;10 years and those living in the US ≥10 years, compared with US-born MAs. Conclusions: These findings suggest higher sedentary activity may account for a substantial portion of the negative impact of acculturation on obesity. However, the mediation results suggest other factors also play a role.

Weight Status of Mexican Immigrant Women: A Comparison With Women in Mexico and With US-Born Mexican American Women

We assessed the association between birthplace, residence, or years in the United States and actual weight (body mass index), perceived weight accuracy, or provider screens for overweight or obesity among Mexican immigrant women. We used linked data from Health and Nutrition Examination Survey waves 2001-2006 and 2006 National Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey to compare 513 immigrants with 9527 women in Mexico and 342 US-born Mexican American women. Immigrants were more likely than women in Mexico to be obese and to perceive themselves as overweight or obese after adjustment for confounders. Recent immigrants had similar weight-related outcomes as women in Mexico. Immigrants were less likely to be obese than were US-born Mexican Americans. Within the overweight or obese population, reported provider screens were higher among immigrants than among women in Mexico, but lower than among US-born Mexican Americans. US residency of at least 5 years but less than 20 years and reporting insufficient provider screens elevated obesity risk. Mexican-origin women in the United States and Mexico are at risk for overweight and obesity. We found no evidence of a "healthy immigrant" effect.

The shape of things to come? Obesity prevalence among foreign-born vs. US-born Mexican youth in California

Obesity among the Mexican-origin adult population in the US has been associated with longer stays in the US and with being US- vs. Mexican-born, two proxies for acculturation. This pattern is less clear for Mexican-origin children and young adults: recent evidence suggests that it may be reversed, with foreign-born Mexican youth in the US at higher risk of obesity than their US-born Mexican–American counterparts. The objective of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that the immigrant advantage in obesity prevalence for Mexican-origin populations in the US does not hold for children and young adults. We use data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (N = 1143) and the California Health Interview Survey (N = 25,487) for respondents ages 4–24 to calculate the odds of overweight/obesity by ethnicity and nativity. We find support for the hypothesis that overweight/obesity prevalence is not significantly lower for first-generation compared to second- and third-generation Mexican-origin youth. Significantly higher obesity prevalence among the first generation was observed for young adult males (ages 18–24) and adolescent females (ages 12–17). The previously-observed protective effect against obesity risk among recent adult immigrants does not hold for Mexican-origin youth.