A recent study funded by the Foundation for Child Development found that children of immigrants to the United States suffer from high levels of obesity. The study, which used data from the Department of Education, tracked 21,000 children from kindergarten to eighth grade. According to Migration Immigration Source, 34% of kindergarten-age immigrant boys are obese or overweight in comparison to 25% of native-born Americans. These levels of obesity are most prevalent in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white immigrants. Black children of immigrants have the same rates of obesity as their native counterparts. Obesity is not found in Asian children of new arrivals, but it shows up later in children whose parents have been in the United States for 15 or 20 years, said Jennifer Van Hook of Pennsylvania State University, the report's lead author.
Van Hook theorizes that children of immigrants are more susceptible to obesity because the children take the lead in deciding what the family will snack on. Children also acclimate faster to new environments and therefore embrace the American food culture to fit in with their native peers. Obesity was most pronounced in children whose parents do not speak English and therefore the children are the first to become “Americanized.” Another one of Van Hook’s theories is that many immigrant families come from places where their culture accepts extra weight as a sign of prosperity.
Many immigrants are inundated with advertisements and are attracted to cheap food with low nutritional value. A study conducted by the
Kaiser Family Foundation found that children ages 2 to 7 view an average of 12 television commercials for food each day, and children ages 8 to 12 view nearly twice that many. In addition, the study’s authors write that restaurants “market to children by associating their food with toys, playgrounds, and cartoon characters….and
that 98 percent of the television ads children see are for products high in fat, sodium, and sugar.” Aside from television advertisements, schools and restaurants promote an unhealthy lifestyle. Schools market high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages through vending machines, school stores, and in cafeterias.
-Missy Guerrero
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