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BackgroundPast research has suggested that changes in culture explain the substantial weight gain seen in many immigrant groups with length of residence in the U.S. and across generations of residence in the U.S. However, it has been theorized that those settling in immigrant and co-ethnic neighborhoods may be buffered against this acculturative process and will be more likely to maintain home country dietary and physical activity patterns. To investigate this theory we incorporated measures of neighborhood immigrant composition into analyses of individual's body mass index (BMI) and generation of immigration and duration of residence in the U.S.MethodsMultilevel analyses were performed using objectively measured height and weight and survey data on diet and physical activity from a sample of 13,011 residents of New York City. Census data were used to calculate the proportion of foreign-born residents and extent of household linguistic isolation in a ½ mile radial buffer around the subject's home.ResultsForeign birth was associated with a significantly lower BMI (-1.09 BMI units, P < 0.001). This association was weakest among Asians (-0.66 BMI units, P = 0.08) and strongest among Black-Caribbeans (-1.41 BMI units, P = 0.07). After controlling for individual level variables, neighborhood proportion foreign-born was not associated with BMI, but increasing neighborhood linguistic isolation was inversely associated with BMI among Hispanics (-2.97 BMI units, P = 0.03). Furthermore among Hispanics, the association between foreign birth and BMI was stronger in low linguistic isolation neighborhoods (-1.36 BMI units, P < 0.0001) as compared to in high linguistic isolation levels (-0.42 BMI units, P = 0.79). Increasing duration of residence in the U.S. was significantly associated with higher BMI overall and among Hispanics.ConclusionThe analyses suggest that acculturation is associated with weight gain, and that neighborhood characteristics are only associated with BMI among Hispanics. However, we suggest that changes in body size currently interpreted as post-migration effects of acculturation to U.S. norms may in fact reflect changes in norms that are taking place internationally.

Past research has observed inverse associations between neighborhood and personal level measures of socioeconomic status and body mass index (BMI), but has not assessed how personal and neighborhood level measures might interact together to predict BMI. Using a sample of 13,102 adult residents of New York City who participated in a health survey, cross-sectional multi-level analyses assessed whether personal income, education and Zip code level poverty rates were associated with BMI. Demographic, income, education and objectively measured height and weight data were collected in the survey and poverty rates and the proportion of Black and Hispanic residents in the subject's Zip code were retrieved from the 2000 Census. Zip code level population density and land use mix, indices of neighborhood walk-ability which are often higher in lower income neighborhoods and are associated with lower BMI, were also measured. After controlling for individual and Zip code level demographic characteristics, increasing income was associated with lower BMI in women but not in men, and college and graduate level education was associated with lower BMI in both men and women. After control for income and individual and Zip code level demographic characteristics, higher Zip code poverty rate was unassociated with BMI. However, as expected, indices of neighborhood walk-ability acted as substantial inverse confounders in the relationship between Zip code poverty rate and BMI. After further adjustment for indices of neighborhood walk-ability, Zip code poverty rate became significantly, and positively associated with BMI in women. Among women, the inverse association between income and BMI was significantly stronger in richer compared to poorer Zip codes. In men and women, the association between college and graduate Correspondence to: Andrew Rundle. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access

Much has been written about the role of dietary acculturation in the epidemic of obesity among Hispanic immigrants in the United States. Yet little is known about the role of beliefs and preferences in immigrants’ dietary practices and their relationship to the retail food environment in which the practices occur. We conducted a mixed-methods convergence study of these issues. Twenty eight foreign-born Hispanic adult women, recruited from families enrolled in a childhood asthma study and mainly living in New York City took part in 60–90 minute, semi-structured interviews regarding their dietary beliefs, preferences, and practices. The findings were then used to formulate hypotheses for analyses of food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data collected from the 345 New York Hispanic women enrolled in the asthma study. Generalized estimating equations were used to determine whether characteristics of the retail food environment within 0.5 Km of the home predicted diet, adjusting for individual and neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics. In the interviews, healthy food was rarely discussed in terms of nutritional content. Instead, considerations of freshness, as indicated by time since harvest or slaughter and thus local sourcing; purity, as indicated by the absence of preservatives and processing; and naturalness, as indicated by chemical free farming practices, were the primary axes around which healthy food was defined. Quantitative results were consistent with the qualitative findings: 1) the presence of a farmers’ market within the home neighborhood was associated with consumption of more total servings per day of fruit, vegetables, and juice, and 2) the presence of a farmers’ market and/or a livestock market was associated with consumption of more servings per day of meat. Proximity to supermarkets or medium-sized grocery stores was not associated with consumption. The results suggest that the availability of fresh produce and meat from local farms may influence diet among Hispanic women in urban neighborhoods.

Objective To identify predominant dietary patterns among Hispanic women and to determine whether adherence to dietary patterns is predicted by neighborhood level factors: linguistic isolation, poverty rate and the retail food environment. Design Cross-sectional analyses of predictors of adherence to dietary patterns identified from principle component analyses of data collected using the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) food frequency questionnaire. Census data were used to measure poverty rates and the percent of Spanish speaking families in the neighborhood in which no one ≥ 14 years old spoke English very well (linguistic isolation) and the retail food environment was measured using business listings data. Setting New York City. Subjects 345 Hispanic women. Results Two major dietary patterns were identified: a healthy diet pattern loading high for vegetable, legumes, potato, fish, and other seafood which explained 17% of the variance in the FFQ data and an energy dense diet pattern loading high for red meat, poultry, pizza, french fries, and high energy drink, which explained 9% of the variance in the FFQ data. Adherence to the healthy diet pattern was positively associated with neighborhood linguistic isolation and negatively associated with neighborhood poverty. More fast food restaurants per Km2 in the neighborhood was significantly associated with lower adherence to the healthy diet. Adherence to the energy dense diet pattern was inversely, but not significantly, associated with neighborhood linguistic isolation. Conclusions These results are consistent with the hypothesis that living in immigrant enclaves is associated with healthy diet patterns among Hispanics.