DACA's Association With Birth Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Mothers in the United States

The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program granted work authorization and protection from deportation to more than 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who arrived to the United States as minors. We estimate the association between this expansion of legal rights and birth outcomes among 72,613 singleton births to high school–educated Mexican immigrant women in the United States from June 2010 to May 2014, using birth records data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Exploiting the arbitrariness of the upper age cutoff for DACA eligibility and using a difference-in-differences design, we find that DACA was associated with improvements in the rates of low birth weight and very low birth weight, birth weight in grams, and gestational age among Mexican immigrant mothers.

Religiosity, Acculturation, and Preterm Birth in Mexican-Origin Women: A Pilot Study

Introduction Explanations for racial disparities in preterm birth (PTB) are elusive, especially when comparing high rates in some racial groups with low rates in Mexican-immigrant women. The purpose of this study was to examine potential protective factors against PTB such as religiosity and acculturation. Methods This study was a prospective investigation of Mexican- and U.S.-born pregnant women. Women were recruited from a low-income-serving prenatal clinic in Texas. Survey instruments included socioeconomic variables, acculturation, and religiosity/spirituality (R/S). Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between acculturation, religiosity, and PTB. Because of the low prevalence of PTB in our sample, we were not able to adjust for confounding characteristics. Results Ninety-one low-income women, mostly Mexican immigrants, participated in the study. PTB in our sample was lower than the national average in the United States (5.5% vs. 9.9%) and was positively but moderately associated with high R/S. R/S scores were high, particularly for frequency of attendance, prayer, and religious coping. Women with lower acculturation had higher scores on the religiosity measures. Conclusion Further research is needed with a larger sample to include other ethnic and racial minorities to more fully understand the relationships between acculturation, religiosity, and PTB.

DACA’s association with birth outcomes among Mexican-origin mothers in the United States

The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program granted work authorization and protection from deportation to more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants who arrived to the United States as minors. We estimate the association between this expansion of legal rights and birth outcomes among 72,613 singleton births to high-school-educated Mexican immigrant women in the United States from June 2010 to May 2014, using birth records data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Exploiting the arbitrariness of the upper-age cutoff for DACA eligibility and using a difference-in-differences design, we find that DACA was associated with improvements to the rates of low birthweight and very low birthweight, birthweight in grams, and gestational age among Mexican immigrant mothers.

The Impact of Childhood Growth Stunting and Post-Migration Dysbiosis on the Development of Metabolic Syndrome Among Indigenous Immigrant Mexican Women

While weight gain is common following migration to a new country and Mexican Americans have a disparate prevalence of overweight and obesity. In particular, Mexican American women have one of the world’s highest rates of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), characterized by abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, all of which increase the risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although the etiology of this dilemma is not well understood, using the framework of allostatic load (AL), we posit that exposure to multiple physiologic, psychosocial and environmental stressors over the course of the lifespan may contribute to an increased risk of MetS among indigenous Mexican immigrant women. Two such frequently overlooked stressors are: 1) a history of childhood growth stunting (CGS) and 2) dietary changes post migration that result in decreased diversity of the gut microbiome (dysbiosis). To date, little is known about how migration experiences differentially affect the relationship between CGS and MetS in adulthood. The purpose of this theoretical article is to present a proposed model of how early life stressors (ELS), specifically CGS, may interact with insalubrious aspects of the immigration experience to promote an increased risk for MetS among indigenous Mexican immigrant women. This model may be used in a bi-national effort to guide intervention efforts to decrease CGS in Mexico and to prevent, monitor or delay the components of MetS post migration in the US.

Perceptions of Dietary Acculturation Among Mexican Immigrant Women Residing in a Southwestern US Metropolitan Area

Objectives Dietary acculturation consists of adopting food culture after migration to a host country. The purpose of this study was to describe how Mexican-born women perceive factors which contributed to their changes in dietary habits after migrating to the United States (US). Methods Fifteen self-identified Mexican women (41 ± 7 years old) residing in a Southwestern US metropolitan area and who had lived in the US for >1 year participated in semi-structured interviews conducted in Spanish. Interview guides, developed from a constructivist perspective, asked about the US food culture, changes in dietary habits, loss or maintenance of native food culture, and the incorporation of elements of the new food culture. Interview audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed based on pre-established theoretical categories using MAXQDA 2018. Results Half of the participants worked full time (53%) and had a household income of less than $2000/month (53%). When comparing the US food culture to that of Mexico, the majority of participants perceived greater availability and access to fast food (n = 9). Some participants identified feeling pressure for purchasing larger amounts of food to save money (n = 2). Only one participant associated high intake of fresh and nutritious food with the US food culture. Some participants perceived having more competing demands for time, resulting in not having enough time to prepare household meals (n = 3). Women referred to having maintained the consumption of meat, multiple ingredients (e.g., tortillas, limes, chili peppers), and products of Mexican traditional cuisine (n = 15), but having lost flavors (n = 11), commensality (n = 8), ways of preparation (n = 7), food freshness (n = 3) and smells (n = 1). Even though vegetables and trendy-health products were reported as newly incorporated elements in the diet (n = 7), participants also reported the incorporation of frozen (n = 2) and pre-cooked products (n = 2), which they considered are characteristic from the US diet. Conclusions Findings suggest that dietary acculturation among Mexican immigrant women is a complex process. This points to the importance of considering the cultural aspects of diet when designing strategies to improve diet and health for this group. Funding Sources CONACYT, Mexico and Program for Transborder Communities.

Food Insecurity, Perception of the Neighborhood Food Environment, and Dietary Quality Among Mexican Immigrant Women

Objectives Migration to the US has been associated with food insecurity and detrimental changes in diet quality. How these changes affect women in context of their neighborhood food environment has not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to assess if food insecurity is associated with diet quality and to explore if perceived food availability moderates this purported association in a sample of Mexican immigrant women. Methods Mexican-born women (n = 57, 41 ± 7 y) residing in a southwestern US metropolitan area for >1 y self-reported food security status, monthly fast-food frequency, and their perception of fruit, vegetables, and low-fat product availability within their neighborhood via survey. Diet was assessed using the Southwest Food Frequency Questionnaire to estimate intake of fruit, vegetables, salty snacks, sugar, and healthy eating index (HEI)-2015 score. Independent samples t-tests compared dietary outcomes between women classified as food secure (n = 41; high or marginal food security) and food insecure (n = 16; low or very low food security). A moderation analysis assessed the effect of the perception of the neighborhood food environment on the relationship between food security and HEI-2015 score. Results Fifty four % of participants worked full time and 42% had a monthly household income <$2000. Relative to women classified as food secure, participants experiencing food insecurity had lower HEI-2015 (61 ± 8 vs. 66 ± 6; P = 0.03). Albeit not significantly different, women experiencing food insecurity reported lower intake of fruit (236 ± 178 vs. 294 ± 239 g), vegetables (303 ± 188 vs. 331 ± 199 g), and salty snacks (6 ± 5 vs. 8 ± 10 g), as well as higher intake of sugar (99 ± 55 vs. 96 ± 56 g) and fast food (2.5 ± 2.5 vs. 1.8 ± 1.7 times per month). Among women experiencing food insecurity, there was a trend for a lower perception of neighborhood fruit, vegetable and low-fat product availability being associated with lower HEI-2015 scores (54 ± 6) relative to those who perceived moderate (63 ± 6) or high (65 ± 8) neighborhood availability of those foods (P = 0.07). Conclusions Findings suggest a need for better understanding of how neighborhood food availability may affect diet quality among Mexican immigrant women experiencing food insecurity. Funding Sources CONACYT, Mexico, and Program for Transborder Communities.

Deconstructing PTSD: Trauma and emotion among Mexican immigrant women

The symptomatology for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) narrowly focuses on particular diagnostic frames and a single triggering event. Such narrow definitions of trauma and recovery have been heavily critiqued by anthropologists and cultural psychiatrists for overlooking cultural complexity as well as the effects of multiple and overlapping events that may cause someone to become “traumatized” and thereby affect recovery. This article investigates how subjective reporting of traumatic experience in life history narratives relates to depressive and PTSD symptomatology, cultural idioms, and repeated traumatic experiences among low-income Mexican immigrant women in Chicago. We interviewed 121 Mexican immigrant women and collected life history narratives and psychiatric scales for depression and PTSD. Most women spoke of the detrimental effects of repeated traumatic experiences, reported depressive (49%) and PTSD (38%) symptoms, and described these experiences through cultural idioms. These data complicate the PTSD diagnosis as a discrete entity that occurs in relation to a single acute event. Most importantly, these findings reveal the importance of cumulative trauma and cultural idioms for the recognition of suffering and the limitation of diagnostic categories for identifying the needs of those who experience multiple social and psychological stressors.