Obesity and Obesogenic Behaviors in Asian American Children with Immigrant and US-Born Mothers

Bianca R. Argueza, Karen Sokal-Gutierrez and Kristine A. Madsen
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Bianca R. Argueza: California Department of Public Health Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Sacramento, CA 95899, USA
Karen Sokal-Gutierrez: Berkeley School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kristine A. Madsen: Berkeley School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Child obesity is understudied in Asian Americans, which include a growing population of recent immigrants. We examined the relationship between maternal nativity and time in the US, and obesity and obesogenic behaviors among Asian American children. We analyzed public-use data from the 2013–2016 California Health Interview Survey for Asian American children ages 2 to 11 years. We used logistic regression to determine the odds of obesity and obesogenic behaviors associated with maternal nativity and time in the US. This study included n = 609 children. Children of US-born mothers had lower odds of obesity (adjusted odds ratio, AOR, 0.12; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.91) and lower fruit intake (AOR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.81) than children of recent immigrants (< 5 years in the US). Asian American children with recent immigrant mothers are more likely to be obese and eat less fruit than children with US-born mothers. Efforts to prevent obesity and increase fruit consumption are particularly important for this vulnerable population of children of recent immigrants.

Keywords: obesity; immigrants; nativity; Asian American; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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