Overweight and obesity among foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics

In this study, data from the New Immigrant Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey are combined to examine patterns of overweight and obesity among U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanics. Results indicate that, after using height and weight measures adjusted for self-reporting bias, foreign-born Hispanic men and women have substantially lower likelihoods of being overweight and obese than the U.S.-born. However, both likelihoods increase as years in the U.S. accumulate for the foreign-born. Controls for smoking behavior, physical activity, and the degree of dietary change do not reduce the strength of the positive relationship between years in the U.S. and overweight/obesity.