Concept, measurement and use of acculturation in health and disease risk studies.

Acculturation, a concept with its root in social science and cultural anthropology, is a process intimately related to health behavior and health status of minority populations in a multicultural society. This paper provides a brief review of the subject of acculturation as it relates to health research, showing that this concept has a potential to identify risk factors that underlie increased prevalence of chronic diseases, particularly in immigrant populations. A proper understanding of this is helpful in designing intervention programs to reduce the burden of such diseases and to increase the quality of life in such populations.

Sensitivity and specificity of body mass index as a definition of the obesity component of metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a combination of risk factors that are associated with several chronic diseases. Its components (obesity, dyslipidemia, carbohydrate intolerance, hypertension, microalbumineria) are diverse, whose thresholds vary in different definitions of MS. For example, a World Health Organization (WHO) panel defined the obesity component of MS based on waist-hip ratio, or body mass index (BMI), while the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) defined the obesity component of MS by waist circumference.

Migration history, health behaviors, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight Mexican-American women.

Purpose: This research examined whether the migration history of overweight Mexican-American women had an independent effect on cardiovascular risk factors, or whether it was mediated by health behavior changes.

Data And Methods: Cross-sectional data from 390 overweight, non-diabetic Mexican-American women (aged 18 to 65 years), all recruited from Starr County, Texas, were used for this analysis. Migration history was inferred from birthplaces of subjects and relatives, and length of residence in the United States.

Obesity and upper body fat distribution in Mexican American children from families with a diabetic proband.

Unlabelled: Upper and centralized body fat distribution is associated with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Few studies have focused on anthropometric characteristics of preadults from families in which there is a diabetic (NIDDM) proband. This study explores the prevalence of upper and centralized body fatness in Mexican American children from the Diabetes Alert study (1981-1983) in Starr County, Texas.