Health disparities among Mexican American women aged 15-44 years: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004.

Objectives: We analyzed the health of Mexican American women aged 15 to 44 years, by generation and language preference, to guide planning for reproductive health services in this growing population.

Methods: We used personal interview and medical examination data from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. We used SUDAAN for calculating age-adjusted prevalence estimates of demographic and health characteristics. The Satterthwaite adjusted F test and Student t test were used for subgroup comparisons.

Results: The women had different health profiles (P < .05) by generation and language preference. Second- and later-generation women and women who used more English were more likely to be sexually active, to have been younger at first intercourse, and to have had more male sexual partners than were first-generation women and women who used more Spanish. Compared with their first-generation counterparts, second- and later-generation women drank more alcohol, were better educated, had higher incomes, and were more likely to have health insurance. Third-generation women were more likely to have delivered a low-birthweight baby than were first-generation women.

Conclusions: Differences by generation and language preference suggest that acculturation should be considered when planning interventions to promote healthy reproductive behaviors among Mexican American women.