Do Mexican immigrants "import" social gradients in health to the US?
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.
Buttenheim
Alison
A
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania, 3641 Locust Walk #308, Philadelphia, PA 19130, USA. Electronic address: abutt@wharton.upenn.edu.
Goldman
Noreen
N
Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 243 Wallace Hall, Princeton NJ 08540, USA.
Pebley
Anne R
AR
Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Wong
Rebeca
R
Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
Chung
Chang
C
Office of Population Research, Princeton University, 243 Wallace Hall, Princeton NJ 08540, USA.
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*