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U.S. Migrant Networks and Adult Cardiometabolic Health in El Salvador

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Abstract

Heightened prevalence of cardiometabolic health conditions in areas where infectious disease remains a major public health concern has created an especially challenging situation for developing countries, like El Salvador. Individuals living within migrant households where migrant networks are present may be at a greater risk for the development of cardiometabolic health conditions. Using data from the 2007 El Salvador database of the Latin American Migration Project (LAMP-ESLS4), this study investigates relations between financial remittances, familial U.S. migration history and cardiometabolic health conditions (overweight status, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke) among 534 individuals within 351 households from four different communities within the departments of La Unión, Cabañas, and San Miguel in El Salvador. Adults living in households that had close primary kin with U.S. migration history were almost two times less likely to be overweight (OR 0.456, p < 0.001) and obese (OR 0.453, p < 0.01) when adjusting for age, sex, education and economic well-being. This study highlights the importance of exploring the potential role of U.S. migrant ties in the epidemiologic transition present within developing countries, like El Salvador.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DGE1255832. In addition, this material was supported, in part, by Grant #UL1 TR000127 and TL1 TR000125 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation nor of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Funding sources had no involvement in this study at any point in time. The authors would like to thank Drs. Shedra Amy Snipes, Linda Wray and Rob Turrisi for their valuable feedback during the preparation of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, 219 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Michelle Y. Martin & Lori A. Francis

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  1. Michelle Y. Martin
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  2. Lori A. Francis
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Correspondence to Michelle Y. Martin.

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Martin, M.Y., Francis, L.A. U.S. Migrant Networks and Adult Cardiometabolic Health in El Salvador. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 1350–1356 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0427-x

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