Diet of Mexican immigrants increase risk of heart disease, obesity

United States, 3rd September: Mexican immigrants taking to American diet increase their risk of obesity and heart disease, findings of a recent research show.

Less healthy American diet risks obesity, heart ailment among Mexican immigrants--The study conducted by University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health shows that majority of Mexican immigrants coming to the US indulge in sugar, French fries, salty snacks, pizza, dessert and saturated fat.

This is despite the fact that Mexicans do have lots of Hispanic food choices available to them. And this American diet is significantly less healthy than the diet consumed by them in Mexico.

This certainly increases risk of overweight, obesity, heart problem and several types of cancers compared to those living in Mexico, the researchers maintained in the study.

Health risks might trigger for Hispanic immigrants--A fact worth considerable here is that death rates and mortality rates due to cancer and heart ailments are quite low among Hispanic immigrants over their non-Hispanic counterparts.

But, as more and more Mexican immigrants including Hispanic immigrants are adopting American diet, so, the risk of such health problems is going to increase in the coming decades, the study findings affirm.

According to lead author of the study published online in September 1 issue of Journal of Nutrition, Carolina Batis, immigrants born in Mexico keeping consuming traditional diet for longer periods.

Batis, a Mexican native and a PhD candidate in nutrition at the University of North Carolina (UNC), adds that Mexicans who are born in America are following the same diet as that of Americans.

Just one generation in American makes Mexican families adopt American diets completely, she maintains. During the research, the authors considered diets of around 16,000 individuals categorized into four groups-Mexican immigrants in the US, Mexicans, Mexicans born in the US and non-Hispanic whites in America.

The research analyzed female adolescents, adults in the age group of 12 to 49 years and children aged between 2 and 11 years.

Speaking about the findings, Batis said the diets of Mexicans born in the US and Mexican Americans born in Mexico were closer with US diet than with Mexican diet.

Advantages of consuming American diet—The study also highlighted a few advantages of consuming American diet. Mexican immigrants in the US and US-born Hispanics often eat more vegetables and fruits than Mexicans, non-Hispanic whites and second-generation Hispanics, Batis stated.