The High Health Cost of Immigration

Posted by in Healthcare


Heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. The triple threat of health conditions. You can’t click on an Internet browser, watch TV, read a newspaper or magazine without seeing an article about these maladies and how to treat, prevent, or medicate your way to normalcy. With the increase of obesity in the United States, the path of self-destruction is lined with forks, knives and fast-food styrofoam carry-out containers.

 

Immigrants coming to the United States for a chance at a better life and opportunity are finding that the good life comes with some unexpected dangers. Life in the United States is often different in every way from their home country. Where fresh foods and healthy diets were part of their culture and kept them strong and fit, healthy habits give way to the realities of acclimating to their new U.S. way of life. With new homes, jobs and lifestyles come a new way of eating.

 

Like many Americans with busy lives, two-career households and growing families, mealtime is often centered on what’s easy and accessible. Too often, it’s the fast-food, prepackaged, high-fat, salt and sugar diet most Americans take for granted. “The Health Toll of Immigration,” from the New York Times, tells a story of a different kind of healthcare dilemma. Instead of poverty and need, these new immigrants get caught up in an unhealthy lifestyle because they have jobs and busy lives. 

 

The change in lifestyle is taking a serious toll on life expectancy. According to Robert Hummer, a social demographer at the University of Texas in Austin, there is something about life in the United States that is not conducive to good health. In fact, several studies have found that Hispanic immigrants’ foreign-born counterparts live an average of three years longer. 

 

Immigrants who come to the United States can take advantage of the country’s superior healthcare systems, but they also adopt the bad habits—smoking, drinking and a diet high in fat, salt, sugar, calories and processed food. Children get used to foods that taste sweeter and lose their taste for bland staples from their native countries.

 

The U.S. is a country of the super-size. Food portions have grown since the 1950s, and so have Americans’ waistlines. Food that tastes good and has an addictive effect due to higher sugar and fat content, are hard to pass up. 

 

With both parents working, who wants to cook? Families are eating out more often and the cheapest and fastest food is usually available through a drive-thru window. What was a novelty or a treat becomes the regular routine. Higher calories and less time for relaxation and exercise and more reliance on cars or public transportation cuts down on walking. 

 

While immigrants’ health is negatively impacted by their new lifestyle, research shows that they still fare better than their American-born counterparts. In fact, one study from the University of California, San Francisco, found that immigrants had a 20 percent lower cancer mortality rate than the same ethnic group born in the United States.

 

Perhaps there should be signs along the borders warning about the health hazards of immigrating to America. The American Dream still exists, but it comes with a health risk. By choosing the best of healthy traditions from life in the U.S. and their native country, immigrants can live the good life a little longer.

 

Photo source: Keerati / Freedigitalphotos.com

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  • Grazyna S
    Grazyna S
    Hello, I don't know what do you think about immigrants,I want to tell you, that I'm the same citizen as you are. Your  grandparents also came from other country too, so don't  look at other peopledifferent. God said no matter what kind of language you speak, or what color of skin you are, everybody are equal.
  • Wendy Y
    Wendy Y
    What you are implying is absolutely wrong. The 3rd world immigrants we are seeing have horrible diets, are frequently carriers of drug resistant contagious diseases and sexually transmitted diseases. Many are overweight, have no prior healthcare and have no funds to cover it and end up on Medicaid. PLEASE research your topic before you try to convince the rest of us (border dwellers) that you are some sort of authority on the topic.
  • Karen m
    Karen m
    Then stay in their own country. Don't drop yr babies here and get food stamps
  • STACY J
    STACY J
    Great Don, please tell all the other employers to follow your example. Anyone who does not mind 12 million illegals taking jobs from students, the poor and everyone else certainly has not been out competed for their job to lower pay to illegals who will work and bid construction jobs rock bottom. If your jobs were going to illegals like my job/s you would think differently about them and the employers that hire them. We the American people are not protected by our government but are sold down the river for votes and cheap labor for the rich, Im sick of it!
  • Maria C
    Maria C
    It's not about ethnicity, it's  about the economy and the pressure from society to live a certain lifestyle. There is no need to post signs on the borders, we are all responsible for our own way of life, most if these immigrants are conscious about their health care and maintain the same eating habits they had prior to relocation.
  • Berta R
    Berta R
    From my observations and associations with Mexican immigrants, the stress of learning a new language, adapting to a fast paced culture, working up to 7 days a week is a major factor in health issues.  
  • luciano r
    luciano r
    The problem with letting the illegals in the us is that they are not only taking the jobs from American citizens,they buy fake s.s.numbers with other names,they get free medical,free food stamps,and free child care.Then they brag about a new house and car they bought,with an attitude,and then the government whats to know why the its so broke,if the government would take a closer look at what the illegals do,the united states of AMERICA,would not be in the situation its in.The couples have 2 or 3 kids,tell the state husband left,husband says wife left,now both husband and wife get every thing for free,medical,insurance,food,and housing,now that's living the AMERICAN DREAM,dont you think,and not to mention at the end of the year they get back a nice refund.
  • William E
    William E
    As epidemiologist, the reported observation is what we describe as Hispanic paradox. This phenomenon is true for Cubans and their co-ethnic groups in US as well. Globalization could have negative impact on Hispanic paradox.Thank youWilliam
  • Noel F
    Noel F
    Perhaps there should be signs along the borders warning about the health hazards of immigrating to America. Shows extreme bias as to how people come into the USA. Might mention rivers and tunnels need signs as well? Most come thru airports, or do you actually believe you need signs on the "borders".
  • Wendy R
    Wendy R
    Don J, I regret that you have such feeling for immigrants . We are humans , and we come to America , a land that has been blessed by God . We come not to be hated , but to have a better life . We are hard workers , honest , and we take our jobs very serious . May God soften your heart , so that you may give someone like me a chance .
  • Marie-Therese J
    Marie-Therese J
    There is a reason why the name is fast food.  People choose to eat fast food.  However, fast food slow down your healtny eating habit  and gradually destroy it.
  • Carmen P
    Carmen P
    Informative article. Fast food maybe should no be consume on daily basis.
  • CECILIA M
    CECILIA M
    Don J. Can you tell us the name of your company. I want to make sure my illegal friends and family don't give you any business. I am a native American. I'm pretty sure you are an immigrant in my territory too.Thank you Mary Harper for this great article!
  • Juanita B
    Juanita B
    Article is not about legal status in the US, it is about the INPACT of immigrants when they come to the US compared with diets in Hispanic countries where everything we eat is more natural, less preservatives, more home made meals etc. and I agree I am Hispanic leaving here legally for 17 years and I've seen myself forgetting about eating healthy and eating everyday fast food or microwaved food which has lots of sodium just because of lack of time. I can see the difference in my body and actually feel more energetic when I am more careful with my eating habits. But definitely we adopt horrible eating habits in this country compared to our countries.
  • Mary Nestor-Harper
    Mary Nestor-Harper
    Hi Don, the article wasn't focused on illegals; it was about the way immigrants with healthy native diets suffer the ill effects of an American diet high in fat, sugar and salt.  The examples in the article focused on Hispanics, but I believe it's true with other nationalities as well.  the American diet has changed...with genetically engineered food and sugar in everything.  And then it's supersized!  As a former HR Director, I agree that people should be legal to work in the U.S., and I spent a lot of time verifying employees' right to work to be sure the company was in compliance.  Thanks for the comment.
  • Don J
    Don J
    No matter, if they get the chance to work here I won;t hire any of them over an American citizen. I have 65 employees and not one of them is an illegal. Some ( illegals )  have applied with permission to work, but it doesn't mean you have to hire them because I hire only Americans with a High School Diploma or higher. There should be a sign in Spanish warning them to stay on their side of the Border unless they are coming to visit or do some shopping.

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