Associations of intergenerational education with waist circumference, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes in US Latinos

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association of intergenerational education and country of birth with waist circumference, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes among older adult Latinos in the United States. DESIGN AND METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging, a cohort of older adult Mexican-American Latinos (mean age=70 years). At baseline, we measured waist circumference and assessed metabolic syndrome and diabetes according to established guidelines (N=1,789). We classified participants as US-born or foreign-born based on self-reported birth country. Participants reported their parents’ education level (≥6 years vs.<6) and their own educational attainment (≥12 years vs.<12). RESULTS: US-born participants who achieved high adult education, regardless of their parents’ education, had 37% lower odds of type-2 diabetes, compared to US-born participants with both low parental and personal education levels (e.g., multivariable-adjusted OR (Parental Low/Adult High)=0.63; 95%CI=0.40, 0.99). Among the foreign-born, only those with both high parental and high personal education levels had 55% lower odds of large waist circumference (OR=0.45; 95%CI=0.23, 0.88), compared to foreign-born participants with both low parental and personal education levels. CONCLUSIONS: Intergenerational exposure to low education levels may increase central obesity and type-2 diabetes differentially among US-born and foreign-born Latinos.