title: Health, chronic conditions, and behavioral risk disparities among U.S. immigrant children and adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined differentials in the prevalence of 23 parent-reported health, chronic condition, and behavioral indicators among 91,532 children of immigrant and U.S.-born parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health to estimate health differentials among 10 ethnic-nativity groups. Logistic regression yielded adjusted differentials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immigrant children in each racial/ethnic group had a lower prevalence of depression and behavioral problems than native-born children. The prevalence of autism varied from 0.3% among immigrant Asian children to 1.3%-1.4% among native-born non-Hispanic white and Hispanic children. Immigrant children had a lower prevalence of asthma, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; developmental delay; learning disability; speech, hearing, and sleep problems; school absence; and ≥ 1 chronic condition than native-born children, with health risks increasing markedly in relation to mother's duration of residence in the U.S. Immigrant children had a substantially lower exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, with the odds of exposure being 60%-95% lower among immigrant non-Hispanic black, Asian, and Hispanic children compared with native non-Hispanic white children. Obesity prevalence ranged from 7.7% for native-born Asian children to 24.9%-25.1% for immigrant Hispanic and native-born non-Hispanic black children. Immigrant children had higher physical inactivity levels than native-born children; however, inactivity rates declined with each successive generation of immigrants. Immigrant Hispanic children were at increased risk of obesity and sedentary behaviors. Ethnic-nativity differentials in health and behavioral indicators remained marked after covariate adjustment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immigrant patterns in child health and health-risk behaviors vary substantially by ethnicity, generational status, and length of time since immigration. Public health programs must target at-risk children of both immigrant and U.S.-born parents.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Gopal K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Stella M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Kogan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American