Obesity by Length of Residence among Mexican-Origin Adults in the U.S.

Anne Driscoll, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC

High obesity rates pose economic and health costs. As the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group, obesity rates among Latinos are important in determining the overall burden of obesity in the country. This paper examines the role of level of exposure to the U.S. in predicting obesity among the Mexican origin population and how sociodemographic factors affect the odds of obesity for immigrants whose exposure is determined by their age at immigration and length of residence and for natives. While obesity rates rise with length of residence for both male and female Mexicans, the results of logistic regression models indicate that education and poverty play different roles in predicting obesity across levels of exposure for males and females. Low educational status and poverty increase the risk of obesity for immigrant females with less exposure to the U.S. No such relationship was found for males or for females with more exposure.