Immigration and Obesity Among Lower Income Blacks

Objective: Our objective was to examine the associations of nativity, immigrant generation, and language acculturation with obesity among lower income black adult men and women.

Research Methods And Procedures: Data from 551 black adult men and women were collected from participants in the Healthy Directions-Health Centers Study. Race/ethnicity and nativity were self-reported. Language acculturation was defined using participants' first language, preferred reading language, and language spoken at home. Mixed model logistic regression models were estimated to account for within-health center clustering.

Results: Foreign-born blacks had a lower obesity risk, compared with all U.S.-born participants, in multivariable analyses [odds ratio (OR) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.38, 0.84]. Among U.S.-born participants, those with foreign-born parents were significantly less likely to be obese than individuals with U.S.-born parents (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.37, 0.80). Low-moderate language acculturation also decreased the odds of being obese (OR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.23, 0.88).

Discussion: Our findings suggest a protective effect of foreign-born status and low-moderate language acculturation on obesity risk among lower income black immigrants. These data highlight the importance of more frequently examining nativity in obesity-related research conducted among blacks.