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. 2021 Jun;22 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):e13240.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13240. Epub 2021 May 3.

Migration as a determinant of childhood obesity in the United States and Latin America

Mireya Vilar-Compte  1 , Arturo V Bustamante  2 , Nancy López-Olmedo  3 , Pablo Gaitán-Rossi  1 , Jaqueline Torres  4 , Karen E Peterson  5 , Graciela Teruel  1 , Rafael Pérez-Escamilla  6
Affiliations

Migration as a determinant of childhood obesity in the United States and Latin America

Mireya Vilar-Compte et al. Obes Rev. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

International migration has economic and health implications. The acculturation process to the host country may be linked to childhood obesity. We use the Community Energy Balance (CEB) framework to analyze the relationship between migration and childhood obesity in Mexican households with international migrants. Using longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we examine how migrant networks affect childhood obesity in origin communities. We also review binational health programs that could be effective at tackling childhood obesity in migrant households from Mexico. Children embedded in migrant networks are at greater risk of developing overweight or obesity, suggesting a significant relationship between childhood obesity and international migration in Mexican households. Based on our search criteria, our analysis of health outreach programs shows that Ventanillas de Salud (VDS)/Health Windows has great promise to prevent childhood obesity in a culturally sensitive and trustful environment. The CEB framework is useful to understand how migration contributes to the risk of childhood overweight and obesity in migrant households. VDS is a feasible and replicable strategy with great potential to address childhood obesity among migrant families accounting for the dynamic and binational determinants of childhood obesity.

Keywords: CEB framework; childhood obesity; international migration; outreach.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Community energy balance framework
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Estimate comparison of five two‐level random‐intercept logistic models on the probability of becoming overweight or obese in 2009; all independent were measured in 2005. The main explanatory variable is having a close migrant network and it was not statistically associated with becoming overweight or obese in any model
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Estimate comparison of five two‐level random‐intercept logistic models on the probability of becoming overweight or obese in 2009; all independent were measured in 2005. The main explanatory variable is having an extended migrant network and it was statistically associated with becoming overweight or obese in every model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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