title: Hispanic paradox in biological risk profiles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined biological risk profiles by race, ethnicity, and nativity to evaluate evidence for a Hispanic paradox in measured health indicators.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data on adults aged 40 years and older (n = 4206) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999-2002) to compare blood pressure, metabolic, and inflammatory risk profiles for Whites, Blacks, US-born and foreign-born Hispanics, and Hispanics of Mexican origin. We controlled for age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hispanics have more risk factors above clinical risk levels than do Whites but fewer than Blacks. Differences between Hispanics and Whites disappeared after we controlled for socioeconomic status, but results differed by nativity. After we controlled for socioeconomic status, the differences between foreign-born Hispanics and Whites were eliminated, but US-born Mexican Americans still had higher biological risk scores than did both Whites and foreign-born Mexican Americans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no Hispanic paradox in biological risk profiles. However, our finding that foreign-born Hispanics and Whites had similar biological risk profiles, but US-born Mexican Americans had higher risk, was consistent with hypothesized effects of migrant health selectivity (healthy people in-migrating and unhealthy people out-migrating) as well as some differences in health behaviors between US-born and foreign-born Hispanics.
authors.affiliation: Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA. crimmin@usc.edu
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Crimmins
authors.forename: Jung Ki
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dawn E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Alley
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karlamangla
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seeman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers