The "Latino [or hispanic] health paradox" has fascinated public health experts for decades. It's the observation that Latinos, despite often being mired in poverty, are less likely to to suffer from chronic disease or die prematurely. For many other ethnic groups, such a life situation tends to result in a raft of chronic health issues. This topic was covered well by a recent article in the Huffington Post (see: The Latino Health Paradox In 4 Essential Charts):
For the first time ever, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a report specifically on the state of Latino health in the U.S. Among their findings is further evidence of the so-called “Latino Health Paradox” -- a phenomenon observed by public health researchers in which Latinos in the U.S. are less likely to suffer from chronic disease or die prematurely, despite high rates of poverty and less access to education and health care....The report analyzed data on Latinos’ leading causes of death, disease prevalence, risk factors and access to health care and found that, as a population, they have a 24 percent lower all-cause mortality rate. Latinos also have lower death rates for nine out of 15 leading causes of death as compared to white residents. Specifically, Latinos in the U.S. are also less likely to suffer from cancer and heart disease than the general population, and are also less likely to die of cancer, heart disease, the flu, suicide and other top causes of death in the country....
[T]heir analysis of past research on the issue brings up at least four factors that could be contributing to the paradox: Latinos tend to have lower smoking rates than white people, they tend to be younger and they also seemed to have higher levels of family support. Immigration could also be playing a major role; the immigration of young, healthy people and the emigration of unhealthy or elderly immigrants back to their home countries could also be affecting health stats. But not every measure was a positive one. For example, Latinos were much more likely to die from diabetes, chronic liver disease, homicide, and essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease than whites. They also have higher rates of obesity. Dr. Mikel Llanes....pointed out that there are more things to consider than cause of death when it comes to evaluating health. Rather than marveling at a supposed paradox, Llanes points out that noting the age at which people die isn’t the same as measuring their quality of life. For example, Latinos were more likely to live below the poverty level and less likely to have completed high school than white people in America. The high rate of death by homicide also suggests that they might be living in more dangerous neighborhoods or embedded in more unstable communities than the general population.
Finally some light is being shed on the Latino paradox. On the positive side, the group benefits from family support and a strong culture which seems to ameliorate, to some degree, their high poverty rates and lesser access to education and healthcare. On the negative side, they often live in violent neighborhoods and may not always have what is considered a healthy diet. The experts are also now emphasizing that an immigrant population tends to skew longer and also that those who are willing to immigrate are often healthier. Here is an interesting comment on how the "barrio advantage" amy contribute to the Hispanic paradox (see: Hispanic paradox):
One hypothesis for the Hispanic Paradox proposes that living in the same neighborhood as people with similar ethnic backgrounds confers significant advantages to one’s health. In a study of elderly Mexican-Americans, those living in areas with a higher percentage of Mexican-Americans had lower seven-year mortality as well as a decreased prevalence of medical conditions, including stroke, cancer, and hip fracture. Despite these neighborhoods' relatively high rates of poverty due to lack of formal education and low paying, service sector jobs, residents do not suffer from the same mortality and morbidity levels seen in similarly disadvantaged socioeconomic neighborhoods. These neighborhoods do have intact family structures, community institutions, and kinship structures that span households, all of which are thought to provide significant benefits to an individual’s health.....Another reason for this phenomenon could be that those Hispanic-Americans that live among those of similar cultural and social backgrounds are shielded from some of the negative effects of assimilation to American culture.
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