Investigating Social Ecological Contributors to Diabetes within Hispanics in an Underserved U.S.-Mexico Border Community

Jean Chang, Mignonne C. Guy, Cecilia Rosales, Jill G. de Zapien, Lisa K. Staten, Maria L. Fernandez and Scott C. Carvajal
Additional contact information
Jean Chang: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Mignonne C. Guy: Mayo Clinic Arizona, Department of Health Sciences Research, 13400 E. Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA
Cecilia Rosales: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Jill G. de Zapien: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Lisa K. Staten: Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, Indiana University, 714 N. Senate Avenue EF 250, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA
Maria L. Fernandez: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
Scott C. Carvajal: Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Hispanics bear a disproportionate burden of diabetes in the United States, yet relations of structural, socio-cultural and behavioral factors linked to diabetes are not fully understood across all of their communities. The current study examines disparities and factors associated with diabetes in adult Hispanics of Mexican-descent (N = 648) participating in a population survey of an underserved rural U.S.-Mexico border community. The overall rate of diabetes prevalence rate in the sample, based on self-report and a glucose testing, was 21%; much higher than rates reported for U.S. adults overall, for all Hispanic adults, or for Mexican American adults specifically. Acculturation markers and social determinants of health indicators were only significantly related to diabetes in models not accounting for age. Older age, greater BMI (>30), greater waist-to-hip ratio as well as lower fruit and vegetable consumption were significantly related to increased likelihood of diabetes when all structural, cultural, behavioral, and biological factors were considered. Models with sets of behavioral factors and biological factors each significantly improved explanation of diabetes relative to prior social ecological theory-guided models. The findings show a critical need for diabetes prevention efforts in this community and suggest that health promotion efforts should particularly focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

Keywords: diabetes; hispanics; U.S.-Mexico border; obesity; underserved; socio-ecological model; health disparities; health behaviors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/8/3217/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/8/3217/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:8:p:3217-3232:d:27636

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().