The longer immigrants remain in the United States, the less healthy they become

Kaisernetwork:

U.S. immigrants in general are healthier than native-born residents -- as well as less likely to smoke, become obese or have heart disease -- despite less access to health care, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics at CDC, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The report used telephone interviews from 225,429 households conducted between 1998 and 2003. According to the report, 52% of immigrants interviewed were from Central and South America and the Caribbean, 25% were from Asia, 14% were from Europe and 8% were from other areas. The report finds that the longer immigrants remain in the U.S., the less healthy they become. For example, 16% of recent Latino immigrants were obese, compared with 22% of Latino immigrants who were in the U.S. for five years or longer and 29.8% of native-born Latinos (McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/2). The report also finds that the rate of hypertension among Latino immigrants increased from 13.4% for recent immigrants to 19.8% for those who were in the U.S. for five years or longer. In addition, among Latino immigrants, the rate of diabetes increased from 6.9% for recent immigrants to 7.5% for those who were in the U.S. for five years or longer, and the rate of heart disease increased from 3.5% to 5.4%, according to the report (Schmid, AP/Salt Lake Tribune, 3/2). According to the report, 3% of recent Asian immigrants had heart disease, compared with 4.6% of those who were in the U.S. for five years or longer and 6.6% of native-born individuals with Asian heritage. Almost 24% of recent black immigrants had hypertension, compared with 27.4% of those who were in the U.S. for five years or longer and 34.7% of native-born blacks, the report finds. The report also finds that immigrants are less likely than native-born residents to report mental health problems.

Life in U.S. is bad for Latinos' health