Dataset Information

Healthy Eating among Mexican Immigrants: Migration in Childhood and Time in the United States.

ABSTRACT: Past research on immigrant health frequently finds that the duration of time lived in the United States is associated with the erosion of immigrants' health advantages. However, the timing of U.S. migration during the life course is rarely explored. We draw from developmental and sociological perspectives to theorize how migration during childhood may be related to healthy eating among adult immigrants from Mexico. We test these ideas with a mechanism-based age-period-cohort model to disentangle age, age at arrival, and duration of residence. Results show that immigrants who arrived during preschool ages (2-5 years) and school ages (6-11 years) have less healthy diets than adult arrivals (25+ years). After accounting for age at arrival, duration of residence is positively related to healthy eating. Overall, the findings highlight the need to focus more research and policy interventions on child immigrants, who may be particularly susceptible to adopting unhealthy American behaviors during sensitive periods of childhood.

SUBMITTER: Van Hook J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6416786 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Healthy Eating among Mexican Immigrants: Migration in Childhood and Time in the United States.

Van Hook Jennifer J Quirós Susana S Dondero Molly M Altman Claire E CE

Journal of health and social behavior 20180724 3

Past research on immigrant health frequently finds that the duration of time lived in the United States is associated with the erosion of immigrants' health advantages. However, the timing of U.S. migration during the life course is rarely explored. We draw from developmental and sociological perspectives to theorize how migration during childhood may be related to healthy eating among adult immigrants from Mexico. We test these ideas with a mechanism-based age-period-cohort model to disentangle ...[more]

PMID: 30039983

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Project description:Background and aimsEleven million unauthorized immigrants reside in the United States and may account for 3% of deceased organ donors. Recently introduced federal and state legislation propose to address access to organ transplantation among unauthorized immigrants. The national landscape of liver transplantation (LT) for unauthorized immigrants is unknown.Approach and resultsWe included all US LT recipients between March 2012 and December 2018 who were linked to Pew Center of Research data to estimate the population of unauthorized immigrants in each US state and by country of origin, based on US Census data. We categorized patients as unauthorized immigrants versus US citizens/residents. The main outcome measures were (1) the proportion of LTs performed for unauthorized immigrants compared with the proportion of unauthorized immigrants among total population in each US state and (2) graft failure and death post-LT. Of 43,192 LT recipients, 43,026 (99.6%) were US citizens/residents and 166 (0.4%) were unauthorized immigrants. Among unauthorized immigrants, most LTs were performed in California (47%) and New York (18%). The absolute difference in proportion of LTs performed for unauthorized immigrants compared with the proportion of unauthorized immigrants among the total population differed among states, ranging from +20% in California to -12% in Texas. The most common countries of birth among LT recipients who were unauthorized immigrants were Mexico (52%), Guatemala (7%), China (6%), El Salvador (5%), and India (5%). In competing risk analysis, unauthorized immigration status (vs. US citizens/residents) was associated with a similar risk of graft failure (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-1.34; P = 0.38) and death (sHR 0.68; 95% CI, 0.36-1.29; P = 0.23).ConclusionsLT for unauthorized immigrants is rare, and disparities in access to LT by state are present. Patient and graft survival among unauthorized immigrants is comparable with citizens/residents.

Project description:BackgroundChildhood obesity prevention initiatives emphasize healthy eating within the family. However, family-focused initiatives may not benefit children whose families lack economic and/or social resources for home cooking and shared meals. The aim of this paper is to examine how adults talk about and make sense of childhood memories of food and eating, with particular attention to understandings of family life and socioeconomic conditions.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with 49 adults in 16 families (22 parents and 27 grandparents of young children) were conducted in Oregon, United States. Most participants had experienced socioeconomically disadvantaged childhoods. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, with a focus on the participants' memories of food provision, preparation, and consumption in their childhood homes.ResultsTwo main themes were developed: (1) "Food and cohesion", with the subthemes "Care and nurturance" and "Virtue transmission through shared meals", and (2) "Food and adversity", with the subthemes "Lack and neglect" and "Restriction and dominance". The first theme captures idealized notions of food in the family, with participants recounting memories of care, nurturance, and culinary pleasure. The second theme captures how participants' recollections of neglectful or rigidly restrictive feeding, as well as food discipline tipping over into dominance, upend such idealized images. Notably, the participants alternately identified poverty as a source of lack and as an instigator of creative and caring, if not always nutritionally-ideal, feeding. Thus, they remembered food they deemed unhealthy as a symbol of both neglect and care, depending on the context in which it was provided.ConclusionsChildhood memories of food and eating may express both family cohesion and family adversity, and are deeply affected by experiences of socioeconomic disadvantage. The connection between memories of food the participants deemed unhealthy and memories of care suggests that, in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage, unhealthy feeding and eating may become a form of caregiving, with nutrition considered only one aspect of well-being. This has implications for public health initiatives directed at lower-income families.

Dataset Information

Healthy Eating among Mexican Immigrants: Migration in Childhood and Time in the United States.

Publications

Healthy Eating among Mexican Immigrants: Migration in Childhood and Time in the United States.

Similar Datasets

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