Our findings point to the effects of nativity, age at immigration, and duration of residence in the US on the risk of asthma in Mexican American children, suggesting that potentially modifiable factors that change with migration may be linked with the disease. The findings of this study should stimulate further research to explain factors that may be responsible for the observed differentials in the risk of asthma among Mexican Americans.

Boston public housing residents are more likely to report fair or poor health status, been diagnosed with obesity, and to be physically inactive compared with other Boston residents (Digenis-Bury, Brooks, Chen, Ostrem, & Horsburgh, 2008 ). Little is known about perceptions of and opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity in this population. We conducted eight focus groups at public housing developments to explore residents' views regarding opportunities and barriers to healthy eating and physical activity. Sixty-seven English- and Spanish-speaking residents participated. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. All residents described the challenge of balancing considerations of food quality, access, and affordability. Other findings included underutilized nutritional resources; abundant availability of unhealthy food; and economic and structural barriers to exercise. Transportation-related challenges were a dominant theme. Building opportunities for physical activity and providing access to affordable and quality food choices may be important interventions for promoting health among public housing residents.

Views of ethnic immigrant women's experiences about mammography screening are important to determine barriers to cancer screening. We explored perceptions and barriers about mammography screening and breast health services among Haitian, Hispanic, Portuguese, and Somali women (n = 51) using semistructured interviews. Providers (n = 19) offered insight into health system barriers. Content analysis was conducted using qualitative data from the 2011 Komen Massachusetts needs assessment. Grounded theory was employed to explore themes and patterns in narratives. Six themes represented knowledge, health care, culture, spirituality, survivorship, and health systems improvement. Results may inform breast health policies that impact ethnic immigrant women in Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVES The objective was to evaluate if 2 pediatric weight management interventions delivered to Hispanic, low-income children (one in a health center the other in a Young Men’s Christian Association) were effective in reducing BMI. We hypothesized that they would be equally effective. METHODS A total 407 children aged 6 to 12 years with BMI ≥ 85th percentile receiving care at 2 health centers were randomly assigned to a healthy weight clinic (HWC) at the health center or to a modified Healthy Weight and Your Child (M-HWYC) intervention delivered in Young Men’s Christian Associations. A total of 4037 children served as the comparison group. We completed a noninferiority test comparing the M-HWYC with the HWC, which was supported if the bounds of the 90% confidence interval (CI) for the difference in percentage of the 95th percentile (%BMIp95) change did not contain what we considered a minimally clinically important difference, on the basis of previous data (0.87). Then, using linear mixed models, we assessed yearly changes in BMI among intervention participants compared with the comparison sites. RESULTS The mean difference in %BMIp95 between the M-HWYC and the HWC was 0.75 (90% CI: 0.07 to 1.43), which did not support noninferiority. Compared with the comparison sites, per year, children in the HWC had a −0.23 (95% CI: −0.36 to −0.10) decrease in BMI and a −1.03 (95% CI −1.61 to −0.45) %BMIp95 decrease. There was no BMI effect in the M-HWYC. CONCLUSIONS We were unable to establish noninferiority of the M-HWYC. The HWC improved BMI, offering an effective treatment of those disproportionately affected.