? ? In 2005, the US foreign-born population at 36 million accounted for 12% of the total population. This is the largest proportion since the early 1900s, reflecting a 57% increase between 1999 and 2000. As the foreign born population continues to grow in numbers (projected to be 42 million in 2025) and diversity, it is important to understand their health status, because factors related to migration may influence their health. Although the growing number of people with diabetes in the US is well documented (20.8 million people in 2005), there is little data on diabetes in the US foreign-born population. Migrants exhibit increasing rates of overweight and obesity as their duration of residence in the US increases, increasing their risk of diabetes. Thus, the primary objective of this proposal is to determine the magnitude of diabetes in the US foreign-born population, and to assess if diabetes is associated with any factor(s) specific to the dynamics of migration. Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) will be the primary source of data for the proposed study. Gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of migration and how they may influence diabetes can aid in promoting health and reducing chronic disease. Specifically, this project will fill a major gap in public health research in the area of diabetes in a diverse, large and growing segment of the US population, and will enable policy development toward prevention of diabetes and reduction of disparities. Results of this study will reveal how diabetes prevention efforts can be tailored to optimize the health of the US foreign-born population by taking migrant specific characteristics (age at migration, duration of residence, region of origin) into consideration. The unique factors the US foreign-born may have related to migration dynamics may also help tease out gene environment interactions and the contributions of ethnicity, over and above migration-specific factors, to the disease process. ? ? ?
The purpose of this proposal is to determine the magnitude of diabetes in the US foreign-born population, and to assess if diabetes is associated with any factor(s) specific to the dynamics of migration. Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) - which is publicly available, nationally representative, and contains information on health, including diabetes, and international migration - will be the primary source of data for the proposed study. As the US foreign-born population continues to grow, their health will have more of an impact on the nation's health and thus understanding their health needs is important.
| Oza-Frank, Reena; Stephenson, Rob; Narayan, K M Venkat (2011) Diabetes prevalence by length of residence among US immigrants. J Immigr Minor Health 13:1-8 |
| Oza-Frank, Reena; Narayan, K M Venkat (2010) Effect of length of residence on overweight by region of birth and age at arrival among US immigrants. Public Health Nutr 13:868-75 |
| Oza-Frank, Reena; Narayan, K M Venkat (2010) Overweight and diabetes prevalence among US immigrants. Am J Public Health 100:661-8 |
| Oza-Frank, R; Cunningham, S A (2010) The weight of US residence among immigrants: a systematic review. Obes Rev 11:271-80 |
| Oza-Frank, Reena; Ali, Mohammed K; Vaccarino, Viola et al. (2009) Asian Americans: diabetes prevalence across U.S. and World Health Organization weight classifications. Diabetes Care 32:1644-6 |
