Immigrant Health Inequalities in the United States: Use of Eight Major National Data Systems
Table 4
Weighted prevalence (%) and unadjusted odds ratios for selected behavioral and health indicators among children aged 18 years born to immigrant and US-born parents: The 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (,677).
Behavioral or health indicator
Children of immigrant parents
Children of US-born parents
Odds for children of immigrant parents relative to children of US-born parents
%
SE
%
SE
OR
95% CI
Obesity (BMI 95th percentile)a
18.16
1.26
14.59
0.42
1.30
1.09–1.55
Overweight (BMI 85th percentile)a
34.39
1.48
29.89
0.54
1.23
1.07–1.41
No physical activity
14.36
0.87
7.08
0.26
2.20
1.88–2.58
Lack of sports participation
49.96
1.12
38.84
0.48
1.57
1.43–1.73
School absence 2 weeks/year
2.83
0.32
7.30
0.28
0.37
0.29–0.47
Exposure to secondhand smoke
1.13
0.16
6.06
0.18
0.18
0.13–0.24
Fair or poor overall health status
5.17
0.42
2.35
0.12
2.27
1.85–2.77
Behavioral/emotional health problem
2.88
0.32
6.89
0.23
0.40
0.32–0.51
Depression
0.95
0.21
2.44
0.14
0.38
0.24–0.61
Autism spectrum disorder
1.29
0.22
2.18
0.13
0.59
0.41–0.85
Asthma
5.15
0.37
9.78
0.24
0.50
0.43–0.59
ADD/ADHD
2.91
0.29
9.42
0.26
0.29
0.23–0.36
Diabetes
0.27
0.08
0.48
0.06
0.56
0.29–1.05
Maternal breastfeeding rate
87.42
0.95
77.09
0.60
2.06
1.72–2.48
Mother in fair/poor health
16.22
0.67
10.34
0.26
1.68
1.50–1.88
Mother in fair/poor mental health
8.21
0.52
7.51
0.22
1.10
0.95–1.28
Father in fair/poor health
12.07
0.63
7.27
0.24
1.75
1.53–2.01
Father in fair/poor mental health
5.20
0.42
4.42
0.18
1.19
0.98–1.43
Parental/household smoker
14.22
0.61
27.30
0.36
0.44
0.40–0.49
ADD/ADHD: attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nativity differences in prevalence were statistically significant at for all indicators except diabetes and mother’s and father’s mental health status.
aDefined for children and adolescents aged 10–17 years.
