Body Mass of U.S. Hispanics/Latinos From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL): How Do Diet Quality and Sedentary Time Relate?

Abstract

Little evidence exists on diet quality- and sedentary time-related differences in body mass index (BMI) among immigrant and nonimmigrant Hispanics/Latinos with different lengths of U.S. residence. A total of 13,962 (80.2% foreign-born) Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) participants aged 18 to 60 from four U.S. cities (Bronx, NY; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; and San Diego, CA) underwent standardized interviews and fasting blood tests. Diet quality was total Alternative Healthy Eating Index score. Sedentary time was number of <100 counts/minute over 3 to 6 days. BMI was examined using regression models adjusted for age, income, Hispanic/Latino background, HCHS/SOL site, and tobacco use. Two three-way interactions (diet or sedentary time length of residence sex) were tested to examine health behavior-related differences in BMI among immigrant and nonimmigrant males and females. The diet length of residence sex interaction was significant ( b = .005, 95% confidence interval [−.003, .008]). For a 10-unit Alternative Healthy Eating Index difference, the BMI difference was greater among immigrant females in the United States longer (0 years = .84 kg/m2; 10 years = 1.64 kg/m2). Diet-related obesity prevention efforts may start soon after migration, particularly for immigrant women.

Co-Occurrence and Clustering of Sedentary Behaviors, Diet, Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, and Alcohol Intake among Adolescents and Adults: The Latin American Nutrition and Health Study (ELANS)

“…This result may be explained by the inverse relationship between educational, income-status and age-group characteristics. Adolescents cannot be enrolled on any course higher then high-school degree and depend financially on their parents/caregivers and report more time on leisure screen-time and eating more unhealthy food sources (i.e., savory snacks, sweets and candies, and SSB) [31,35]. This result confirms that sedentary behaviors and energy-dense food items are inversely associated.…”

Health Risk Behaviours by Immigrants’ Duration of Residence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Among North American studies with native-born references, risks generally converged to native levels [32,44,102,119,123,128], with some evidence of divergence [34,39,60,123] or unclear patterns relative to natives [39,93,109,114]. European evidence on convergence was more inconclusive, varying by country of origin and destination [64,85,131].…”

“…With one exception [117], all included tobacco-related studies referred to smoking. In North America, most studies revealed increased risks of smoking with longer residence among general immigrant populations [67,89,96,102,109,128,146], as well as Latino/Hispanic [71,119] and African/Afro-Caribbean [44,127] immigrants specifically. Findings among Asian immigrants ranged from increasing [100,103,117] to decreasing [34,72,78,115] risks, or no trend at all [50,90,133].…”

“…Studies examining indicators of physical activity were reverse interpreted. North American evidence on changes in general physical inactivity by duration of residence varied from increased [98,110,113,119,127,[133][134][135]142] to decreased [34,51,53,54,59,62,78,115,148] risks. Two European studies suggested either no change or increased inactivity with time [87,108].…”

“…Altogether, most North American studies with native-born references suggested a convergence of physical inactivity patterns [34,59,60,83,109,110,113,119,138,148], with only a few suggesting divergence [59,84,93,138,148]. Studies from outside North America showed mixed results regarding the direction of changes relative to natives.…”