TY - JOUR
T1 - Immigration Status, Visa Types, and Body Weight Among New Immigrants in the United States
AU - Yeh, Ming Chin
AU - Parikh, Nina S.
AU - Megliola, Alison E.
AU - Kelvin, Elizabeth A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work received funding support from New Connections, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (to Nina S. Parikh).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.
PY - 2018/3/1
Y1 - 2018/3/1
N2 - Purpose: To investigate the relationship between immigration-related factors and body mass index (BMI) among immigrants. Design: Secondary analyses of cross-sectional survey data. Setting: The New Immigrant Survey (NIS-2003) contains data from in-person or telephone interviews between May and November 2003, with a probability sample of immigrants granted legal permanent residency in the United States. Participants: A total of 8573 US immigrants. Measures: The NIS-2003 provided data on sociobehavioral domains, including migration history, education, employment, marital history, language, and health-related behaviors. The visa classifications are as follows: (1) family reunification, (2) employment, (3) diversity, (4) refugee, and (5) legalization. Analysis: Nested multivariable linear regression analysis was used to estimate the independent relationships between BMI and the variables of interest. Results: Overall, 32.6% of participants were overweight and 11.3% were obese (mean BMI = 25). Participants who were admitted to the United States with employment, refugee, or legalization visas compared with those who came with family reunion visas had a significantly higher BMI (P <.001, P <.001, P <.01, respectively). Duration in the United States predicted BMI, with those immigrants in the United States longer having a higher BMI (P <.001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that immigrants who obtain particular visa categorizations and immigration status might have a higher risk of being overweight or obese. Immigrants need to be targeted along with the rest of the US population for weight management interventions.
AB - Purpose: To investigate the relationship between immigration-related factors and body mass index (BMI) among immigrants. Design: Secondary analyses of cross-sectional survey data. Setting: The New Immigrant Survey (NIS-2003) contains data from in-person or telephone interviews between May and November 2003, with a probability sample of immigrants granted legal permanent residency in the United States. Participants: A total of 8573 US immigrants. Measures: The NIS-2003 provided data on sociobehavioral domains, including migration history, education, employment, marital history, language, and health-related behaviors. The visa classifications are as follows: (1) family reunification, (2) employment, (3) diversity, (4) refugee, and (5) legalization. Analysis: Nested multivariable linear regression analysis was used to estimate the independent relationships between BMI and the variables of interest. Results: Overall, 32.6% of participants were overweight and 11.3% were obese (mean BMI = 25). Participants who were admitted to the United States with employment, refugee, or legalization visas compared with those who came with family reunion visas had a significantly higher BMI (P <.001, P <.001, P <.01, respectively). Duration in the United States predicted BMI, with those immigrants in the United States longer having a higher BMI (P <.001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that immigrants who obtain particular visa categorizations and immigration status might have a higher risk of being overweight or obese. Immigrants need to be targeted along with the rest of the US population for weight management interventions.
KW - acculturation
KW - immigrants
KW - obesity
KW - overweight
KW - visa
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U2 - 10.1177/0890117116677797
DO - 10.1177/0890117116677797
M3 - Article
C2 - 27899682
AN - SCOPUS:85042099986
SN - 0890-1171
VL - 32
SP - 771
EP - 778
JO - American Journal of Health Promotion
JF - American Journal of Health Promotion
IS - 3
ER -