title: Development of Obesity and Related Diseases in African Refugees After Resettlement to United States.
abstract: Despite increases in obesity and related diseases in developing nations, initial refugee clinical visits do not address these issues. We explored the development of obesity and related diseases in a longitudinal prospective cohort of African refugees resettling in northeastern US. Using state Department of Health data, refugees were linked to a health system. Body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia status were extracted from charts. US regional controls from NAMCS/NHAMCS data were matched by age, sex, race, and visit year. African refugee BMI increased after resettlement at 1 (1.7 ± 2.9, p < 0.0001) and 5 years (3.1 ± 3.7, p < 0.0001), a different trend than matched regional controls (p = 0.01). Refugees had increased rates of diabetes (1.0 vs. 10.8 %, p < 0.0001), hypertension (16.7 vs. 21.6 %, p < 0.0001) and hyperlipidemia (3.9 vs. 10.8 %, p < 0.0001) at 5 years not observed in regional controls. Our findings emphasize the need for interventions during resettlement to prevent development of obesity and related disease in this vulnerable population.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. crhodes@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Corinne M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9894-1364
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Yuchiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Percac-Lima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000208:ethnology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diabetes; Hyperlipidemia; Hypertension; Obesity; Refugee