US born latinos less healthy than immigrants

Hispanics born and raised in the United States may be in poorer health than new immigrants — with higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Poor eating habits, smoking, fast food and a lack of exercise are all likely to blame, the team at the University of Southern California, the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Pennsylvania said.

The researchers looked at surveys of more than 4,200 whites, blacks and Hispanics aged 40 or older interviewed by federal researchers from 1999 to 2002.

“Many studies report that Hispanics in the United States have better or similar health to that of non-Hispanic whites despite Hispanics having lower incomes and less education,” the researchers wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

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