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Chapter III
Risk factorsandhealthconditions
Quality(ahrq),whichdoesnotprovidedata forMexi-
cansbut insteadaggregates informationfortheentire
Hispanicgroup(both immigrantandUS-born),which is
onlycomparedwithnon-HispanicUS-bornwhitesand
AfricanAmericans.
Two issues impact the trends presented here.
First, as indicated in the previous chapter, Mexican
immigrants andHispanics overall have a lower use of
medical care services, which may result in an under-
reporting of health conditions due to lower chances
of being diagnosed. Second, theremay be an under-
reporting of persons given the marginalization and
undocumented status of a large number ofMexicans
living in theUnited States.
Risk factors
Childrenandadolescents
It is important to study thehealthof childrenandado-
lescents in theUnited States since the risks they face
can not only jeopardize their health throughout child-
hood, but also have consequences in their adult lives.
The health conditions of this population group also
highlight the need for medical treatment in the US
and possibly in Mexico, considering the possible re-
turn of these youngmigrants to their country of ori-
gin at later stages of their lives.
Introduction
There are many studies that document that immi-
grants tend to arrive in the US healthier than the
US-bornpopulation, but that their healthgenerallyde-
clines over time. Understanding the pattern of health
risk factors and the health conditions that the Mexi-
can immigrant population lives with provides critical
insights intowhereadditional efforts need tobemade
toprevent future illnessesand treatcurrentconditions.
This is particularly important for the Mexican immi-
grant population because of their low levels of access
tohealth careas documented in theprevious chapter.
This chapter is divided into two sections, the
first ofwhichaddresses thehabits that canundermine
a person’s health in the short-, medium- and long-
term, and above all those linked to chronic illnesses.
Two population groups, children (0 to 17 years) and
adults (18 to64 years), basedon regionof origin and
ethnicity or race are analyzed. The second section
shows some of the health conditions that affect chil-
dren, nonelderlyadults andadults age65andover.
Theprincipal sourceofdata isthe
UnitedStates
National Health Interview Survey
(nhis), published
by theCenters forDiseaseControl (cdc), which con-
tains information for two periods, 2004-2005 and
2012-2013.Theanalysis iscomplementedwithdata
from the
National ReportofHealthDisparities2012
,
published by the Agency for Health Research and
