title: Neighborhood ethnic composition, spatial assimilation, and change in body mass index over time among Hispanic and Chinese immigrants: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated relations between changes in neighborhood ethnic composition and changes in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference among Chinese and Hispanic immigrants in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis data over a median 9-year follow-up (2000-2002 to 2010-2012) among Chinese (n = 642) and Hispanic (n = 784) immigrants aged 45 to 84 years at baseline. We incorporated information about residential moves and used econometric fixed-effects models to control for confounding by time-invariant characteristics. We characterized neighborhood racial/ethnic composition with census tract-level percentage Asian for Chinese participants and percentage Hispanic for Hispanic participants (neighborhood coethnic concentration).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In covariate-adjusted longitudinal fixed-effects models, results suggested associations between decreasing neighborhood coethnic concentration and increasing weight, although results were imprecise: within-person BMI increases associated with an interquartile range decrease in coethnic concentration were 0.15 kilograms per meters squared (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.00, 0.30) among Chinese and 0.17 kilograms per meters squared (95% CI = -0.17, 0.51) among Hispanic participants. Results did not differ between those who did and did not move during follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Residential neighborhoods may help shape chronic disease risk among immigrants.
authors.affiliation: Félice Lê-Scherban and Ana V. Diez Roux are with the Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor. Brisa N. Sánchez is with the Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health. Sandra S. Albrecht is with the Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Theresa L. Osypuk is with the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis.
authors.forename: Félice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lê-Scherban
authors.forename: Sandra S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Theresa L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Osypuk
authors.forename: Brisa N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Diez Roux
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055105:Waist Circumference; D015430:Weight Gain; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data