Social Science and Medicine
Volume 71, Issue 7, 2010, Pages 1268-1276

Do Mexican immigrants "import" social gradients in health to the US? (Article)

Buttenheim A.* , Goldman N. , Pebley A.R. , Wong R. , Chung C.
  • a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health, Society Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania, 3641 Locust Walk #308, Philadelphia, PA 19130, United States
  • b Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 243 Wallace Hall, Princeton NJ 08540, United States
  • c Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
  • d Department of Preventive Medicine, Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
  • e Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 243 Wallace Hall, Princeton NJ 08540, United States

Abstract

Greater educational attainment is consistently associated with lower mortality and better health, a pattern known as the social gradient. However, recent research suggests that Mexican-origin adults in the US have weak or flat gradients, in contrast to steep gradients for non-Hispanic whites. In this study we evaluate one hypothesis for this finding: Is the relative weakness of education gradients in health behaviors observed among Mexican-origin adults in the US due to weak gradients in the sending population? We test this " imported gradients" hypothesis with data from two nationally-representative datasets: the US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the Mexican National Health Survey (ENSA 2000). We compare education gradients in smoking and obesity for recently-arrived Mexican immigrants in the US to the corresponding gradients in high-migration regions of Mexico. Results partially support the imported gradients hypothesis and have implications for health education and promotion programs targeted to immigrant populations to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health in the US. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Author Keywords

Education Migration Latino health Social disparities Obesity Immigrant health Mexico smoking USA

Index Keywords

immigrant educational status questionnaire survey immigrant population health promotion race difference Health Status Disparities human Health Behavior obesity Time Factors hypothesis testing Health Surveys Mexico academic achievement Cross-Sectional Studies United States health program racial disparity Humans ethnic difference smoking Hispanic male Emigrants and Immigrants female educational attainment Latino people Article adult health education European Continental Ancestry Group Mexico [North America] mortality Mexican Americans health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-77956344448&doi=10.1016%2fj.socscimed.2010.06.025&partnerID=40&md5=323121a1066bcd2c3fee7230290e5b81
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.06.025
ISSN: 02779536
Cited by: 41
Original Language: English