Mexican immigrant health advantage in metabolic syndrome? Examining the contributions of demographic, socioeconomic, and health behavior characteristics

Although Mexican immigrants to the United States (US) have historically held health and mortality advantages over US-born groups, evolving population dynamics in Mexico paired with shifts in Mexico-US immigration patterns and policy regimes have raised new concerns about the metabolic health of recent cohorts of Mexican immigrants. Using a nationally representative sample of adults aged 20-years and older (n = 10,833) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES, 1999–2016), we assess and seek to explain differences in metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk by race-ethnicity, country of origin, and duration of residence in the US and evaluate whether recent Mexican immigrants continue to exhibit a metabolic health advantage. We decompose the difference in MetS prevalence between US-born whites (45.5%) and recent Mexican immigrants (29.5%) to determine how demographic, socioeconomic, and health behavior characteristics contribute to the patterning of metabolic health. Findings reveal that recent Mexican immigrants hold a metabolic health advantage over all groups, which is accounted for by their younger age structure. Yet recent Mexican immigrants would retain a sizable age-adjusted MetS advantage if they were to achieve parity with US-born whites on education, income, and food security. To ensure that newly-arrived Mexican immigrants continue to experience historically favorable health and mortality prospects, modest policy changes could offer health-promoting protections in the form of increased economic and food security, as well as improved educational opportunities for younger immigrants.