Here's another behavioral difference: According to a Stanford study, white adults know more about nutrition than Latino adults -- but Latinos eat somewhat more healthfully, with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables. Another possibility is exercise. In California, a 2005 study found, Latinos walk more than any ethnic group except American Indians, though another study found that Latinos get less exercise. Much of that walking is for transportation rather than leisure, because they are less likely to own a car.
Many studies have found that social networks have a profound effect on health. Latino culture is particularly family-oriented; there also are strong community and neighborhood networks, often tied to the church.
If any or all of these are factors in the Latino paradox, there's reason for concern that they will diminish over time. Second- and third-generation Latinos in the United States tend to smoke and drink more than their immigrant forebears. Fast food, an expensive luxury in such countries as Mexico, is often the cheapest available food here and dominates the restaurant scene in poor black and Latino neighborhoods. Billboards for fast food also are more common in these neighborhoods, according to a report this month from Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. And a report last week from the National Council of La Raza concludes that although Latino children who immigrate to the U.S. with their parents have lower rates of obesity than their U.S.-born peers, their risk of obesity increases the longer they live here. Nearly 40% of Latino children in this country are overweight or obese. Mexican American women are 30% more likely to be overweight than white American women.
Of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, one -- diabetes, an obesity-related disease -- is far more common among Latinos than the population as a whole. In other words, acculturation to the American way of life may worsen the health of Latinos, especially when combined with lack of access to medical care.
The piecemeal research so far offers tantalizing hints to preserving life and health with a minimum of spending, but it will take a large-scale epidemiological study to unravel the lessons in the Latino paradox for all of us.
