Post-migration food habits of New Zealand South Asian migrants: Implications for health promotion practice.

Introduction: South Asian migrants in western countries have a high risk for diet related diseases post-migration. Hence knowledge on food habits that change post-migration, which are detrimental to health, are critical for health promotion initiatives to reduce this disease burden. Objective: to describe food consumption changes post-migration according to sex and duration of residence in New Zealand among South Asian migrants. Methods: A cross-sectional mail survey of 150 self-selected people of South Asian ethnicity aged 25-59 years in New Zealand. Results: The study achieved responses from 112 participants (75%) with a mean age of 36 (7.5) years. Consumption of green leafy vegetables reduced post-migration for females and in new migrants (P < 0.05). Fruit consumption increased in both genders and across duration of residence (P < 0.05). Only 15% of males and 36% of females met the 3 + a day recommendation for vegetable consumption. Consumption of traditional breads, breakfast items and rice (males) decreased whilst that of breakfast cereals increased (P < 0.05). Consumption of low-fat milk, cheese, ice-cream, butter (females) and margarine increased, whilst ghee decreased (P < 0.05). Consumption of fish, lentils, traditional sweets and savouries decreased, whilst meat, processed meat, chicken, potato chips, cakes and pastries (females) and alcohol (males) increased (P < 0.05), post-migration. Thirty-three percent of males and 24% of females consumed takeaways "weekly or more often", with the majority (male: 51%; female: 36%) consuming European foods such as pizzas and pastas. Thirteen percent of males and 26% of females consumed festival foods "weekly or more often." More than half the participants were obese with BMI increasing with duration of residence (P = 0.025). Conclusions: A food-based health promotion initiative focused on inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, increased consumption of dairy foods such as cheese and ice cream, and high fat European takeaway foods would be warranted particularly in new South Asian migrants.

Health risks among long-term immigrants in Norway with poor Norwegian language proficiency.

BACKGROUND: Poor health among immigrants has been associated with longer duration of residence in the host country, poor host language proficiency and low education. However, the interplay among these factors is under-studied. OBJECTIVE: To assess health among immigrants in Norway by combinations of duration of residence, Norwegian language proficiency and education. METHODS: In 2015/2016 Statistics Norway carried out two cross-sectional Living Conditions Surveys in the general adult population (N=5703, response rate 59%) and among immigrants from 12 countries, with ⩾2 years of residence (N=3993, response rate 54%). Health outcomes (poor self-reported health, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, mental health problems, back/neck pain) were assessed with logistic regressions according to combinations of duration of residence, Norwegian language proficiency and education. RESULTS: Negative health conditions were more common among immigrants than in the general population, and varied by duration of residence, proficiency in the Norwegian language and education. In age- and sex-adjusted regressions, immigrants had higher odds of all negative health conditions, except hypertension, regardless of their duration of residence, proficiency of the Norwegian language and educational level. Immigrants with a long duration of residence and poor proficiency in the Norwegian language had the highest odds of negative health conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Special attention is warranted towards health among immigrants who have lived in Norway the longest without acquiring good Norwegian language proficiency.

Diminished Advantage or Persistent Protection? A New Approach to Assess Immigrants' Mortality Advantages Over Time.

Much research has debated whether immigrants' health advantages over natives decline with their duration at destination. Most such research has relied on (pooled) cross-sectional data and used years since immigration as a proxy for the duration of residence, leading to the challenge of distilling the duration effect from the confounding cohort-of-arrival and age-of-arrival effects. Because longitudinal studies tend to use self-rated health as the outcome, the changes they observed may reflect shifts in immigrants' awareness of health problems. We illuminate the debate by examining how immigrants' mortality risk-a relatively unambiguous measure tied to poor health-changes over time compared to natives' mortality risk. Our analysis uses the National Health Interview Survey (1992-2009) with linked mortality data through 2011 (n = 875,306). We find a survival advantage for U.S. immigrants over the native-born that persisted or amplified during the 20-year period. Moreover, this advantage persisted for all immigrants, regardless of their race/ethnicity and gender or when they began their U.S. residence. This study provides unequivocal evidence that immigrant status' health protection as reflected in mortality is stable and long-lasting.

Increasing obesity odds among foreign-born New Yorkers are not explained by eating out, age at arrival, or duration of residence: results from NYC HANES 2004 and 2013/2014.

BACKGROUND: Among the foreign-born in the United States (US) dietary acculturation and eating out may increase obesity risk. Using the 2004 (N = 1952) and 2013/14 (N = 1481) New York City (NYC) Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, we compared for the foreign-born and US-born by survey year: 1) odds of obesity; 2) association between eating out and obesity and 3) effect of age at arrival and duration of residence among the foreign-born. Weighted logistic regression estimated odds of obesity. RESULTS: Compared to the US-born, the foreign-born had lower odds of obesity in 2004, (aOR = 0.51 (95%CI 0.37-0.70), P = <.0001). Odds were no different in 2013/14. In 2013/14 the foreign-born who ate out had lower obesity odds (aOR = 0.49 (95%CI 0.31-0.77), P = 0.0022). The foreign-born living in the US≥10 years had greater odds of obesity in 2004 (aOR = 1.73 (95%CI 1.08-2.79), P = 0.0233) but not in 2013/14. CONCLUSIONS: Eating out does not explain increasing obesity odds among the foreign-born.

Risk of labour market marginalisation among young refugees and non-refugee migrants with common mental disorders.

PURPOSE: Labour market marginalisation (LMM), i.e. long-term unemployment (LTU), long-term sickness absence (LTSA) and disability pension (DP), among young individuals with common mental disorders (CMDs) are a challenge for the welfare system, and refugees and non-refugee migrants seem particularly vulnerable. The aim was to investigate the risk of LMM in young adults with CMDs among refugees and non-refugee migrants compared to Swedish-born individuals and the role of country of birth, duration of residence and age at arrival. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted including young adults (19-30 years) with inpatient or specialised outpatient healthcare due to CMDs and/or antidepressant prescriptions during 2009 (N = 69,515). Cox regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals for the risk of LMM during 2010-2013. RESULTS: Both refugees and non-refugee migrants had a higher risk of LTU compared to Swedish-born individuals (HR refugees: Africa: 2.4; Asia: 2.2; Europe outside EU25: 1.6; South America: 1.4) with highest estimates in refugees from Afghanistan and Syria. Refugees from Africa and Asia had a lower risk of LTSA compared to Swedish-born individuals (HR: 0.6 and 0.7, respectively), particularly refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq. Especially among refugees, a longer duration of residence and a younger age at arrival were associated with a lower risk of LTU. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of LTU among refugees and non-refugee migrants was higher and the risk of LTSA was lower, compared to Swedish-born individuals. Duration of residence and age at arrival had an influence on the risk of LTU, particularly among refugees.

Psychological distress by age at migration and duration of residence in Sweden.

Migrants suffer from worse psychological health than natives in many countries, yet the extent to which this varies by age at migration and duration of residence in the receiving context remains unexplored in Sweden. Drawing on a life course approach, we investigate differences in psychological distress by age at migration and duration of residence in working-age migrants to Sweden, and examine the role of various social determinants of health in explaining these differences relative to Swedish-born. Using pooled cross-sectional data from the 2011/2015 Health on Equal Terms survey in Västra Götaland Region, Sweden (n = 58,428), we applied logistic regression analysis to calculate predicted probabilities and average marginal effects (AME) of migrant status, by age at migration and duration of residence, on psychological distress. Analyses were stratified by sex and region of origin and controlled for indicators of socioeconomic status (SES), social cohesion, and discrimination to assess their potential contribution to differences in migrants' and natives' psychological distress. All migrants except men from OECD-predominant regions had a greater probability of psychological distress than Swedish-born (ranging from AME 0.031 [95% Confidence Interval or CI 0.000-0.062] for OECD women to AME 0.115 [95% CI 0.074-0.156] for non-OECD men). Marginal effects of migration status on psychological distress probabilities generally increased with age at migration and duration of residence. Differences between migrants and natives were largely attenuated after controlling for social determinants, the greatest contribution coming from inequalities in social cohesion, followed by inequalities in discrimination and SES. Our results suggest a relative health advantage of early-life compared to later-life migration, albeit with worse outcomes with longer residence in Sweden. The predominance of integration opportunities in childhood strengthens calls for supportive policies to assist older migrants' integration directly upon arrival, which may ultimately improve their psychological wellbeing.

Impact of Immigration and Duration of Residence in US on Length of Gestation Among Black Women in Newark, New Jersey.

Little is known about pregnancy outcomes of black immigrant women to the US. We surveyed 447 black women post-partum in two hospitals in Newark, NJ. Length of gestation was obtained from medical records. Covariates and information on immigration were collected by in-person interview. Risks ratios for preterm birth (< 37 weeks) comparing immigrant to US-born women were calculated using log-binomial regression. Associations with gestational age at delivery were estimated using linear regression. Multivariable models adjusted for socioeconomic and social/behavioral variables. Immigrant women relative to US-born women had a 60% lower risk of preterm birth (adjusted risk ratio = 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2, 0.8) and longer gestation (adjusted difference = 1.4 weeks, 95%CI 0.6, 2.1). Gestation was 1.9 weeks longer for recent immigrants compared to US-born women (95%CI 0.2, 3.6), whereas for those who lived in the US for at least 10 years there was no difference. The healthy immigrant effect found among black immigrants may erode with time in the US.

Foreign-Born Blacks Experience Lower Odds of Obesity but Higher Odds of Diabetes than US-Born Blacks in New York City.

Research is limited on the health of foreign-born Blacks (FBBs), who are often grouped with African Americans. This study compared obesity and diabetes odds in FBBs and US-born Blacks (USBBs) in NYC. Analyzing the 2009-2013 NYC Community Health Survey (3701 FBBs and 6297 USBBs), weighted multivariate logistic regression examined odds of obesity and diabetes, adjusting for age, gender, education, income, marital status, children < 18, BMI (for diabetes only) and duration of residence. FBBs had lower odds of obesity [OR  0.62 (95% CI 0.54, 0.72)] and greater odds of diabetes [OR 1.24 (95% CI 1.01, 1.52)] compared to USBBs. FBBs had 1.4 times the odds of diabetes at overweight status, compared to USBBs [OR  1.40 (95% CI 1.01, 1.95)]. Living in the US ≥ 10 years was not associated with odds of obesity and diabetes. Future research should seek to uncover unique risk profiles of sub-ethnic groups in the African diaspora.

Tobacco smoking between immigrants and non-immigrants in Australia: A longitudinal investigation of the effect of nativity, duration of residence and age at arrival.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Earlier research evidence suggests that there is a difference and over time change in the prevalence of tobacco smoking between immigrants and native-born population. This study investigates the differences in smoking among immigrants from English speaking (ESC) and non-English speaking (NESC) countries relative to native-born (NB) Australians, and how those differences change with duration of residence (DoR) and age at arrival (AA). METHODS: Information on 12 634 individuals from the first twelve waves (2001-2012) of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) longitudinal survey was analysed using multilevel group-mean-centred mixed logistic regression models. Smoking status as an outcome was dichotomized as current vs non-current smokers. RESULTS: After adjusting for covariates, relative to native-born respondents, there was no difference in the odds of smoking for English speaking countries immigrants, while immigrants from non-English speaking countries had lower odds of smoking. The smoking prevalence of immigrants from non-English speaking countries converged towards the native-born after 20 years of residence in Australia. The association between duration of residence and smoking was modified by age at arrival, with immigrants (combined ESC and NESC) who arrived as children or adolescents and had lived 20 years or longer were significantly more likely to smoke than native-born Australians. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the initially lower smoking prevalence among non-English speaking countries immigrants converges with that of native-born Australians after twenty years of residence, and immigrants (combined ESC and NESC) who arrived as children or adolescents more than 20 years ago were more likely to be smokers. SO WHAT?: Current health promotion and anti-smoking programs should ensure that immigrants from non-English speaking background have access to education and information about the hazards of tobacco consumptions and are aware of the available smoking cessation services. Efforts to prevent smoking uptake among NESC immigrants and those who arrive as children or adolescents and live longer than 20 years is especially important for tobacco control interventions.

All-cause mortality, age at arrival, and duration of residence among adult migrants in Sweden: A population-based longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: A mortality advantage has been observed among recently arrived immigrants in multiple national contexts, even though many immigrants experience more social disadvantage compared to natives. This is the first study to investigate the combined influence of duration of residence and age at arrival on the association between region of origin and all-cause mortality among the adult immigrant population in Sweden. METHODS: Using population-based registers, we conducted a follow-up study of 1,363,429 individuals aged 25-64 years from 1990 to 2008. Gompertz parametric survival models were fitted to derive hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Compared to native Swedes, we observed a health advantage in all group of immigrants, with the exception of individuals from Finland. However, when information on age at arrival and duration of residence was combined, an excess mortality risk was found among immigrants who arrived before age 18, which largely disappeared after 15 years of residence in Sweden. Non-European immigrants over age 18 showed similar or lower mortality risks than natives in all categories of age at arrival, regardless of duration of residence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the mortality advantage commonly observed among immigrants is not universal. Combined information on age at arrival and duration of residence can be used to identify sensitive periods and to identify possible selection bias. The study also suggests that young immigrants are a vulnerable subpopulation. Given the increased number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Europe, targeted health or integration policies should be developed or reviewed.

Healthy Eating among Mexican Immigrants: Migration in Childhood and Time in the United States.

Past research on immigrant health frequently finds that the duration of time lived in the United States is associated with the erosion of immigrants' health advantages. However, the timing of U.S. migration during the life course is rarely explored. We draw from developmental and sociological perspectives to theorize how migration during childhood may be related to healthy eating among adult immigrants from Mexico. We test these ideas with a mechanism-based age-period-cohort model to disentangle age, age at arrival, and duration of residence. Results show that immigrants who arrived during preschool ages (2-5 years) and school ages (6-11 years) have less healthy diets than adult arrivals (25+ years). After accounting for age at arrival, duration of residence is positively related to healthy eating. Overall, the findings highlight the need to focus more research and policy interventions on child immigrants, who may be particularly susceptible to adopting unhealthy American behaviors during sensitive periods of childhood.

Increased cardiovascular disease risk in international migrants is independent of residence duration or cultural orientation: the HELIUS study.

BACKGROUND: International migrants differ from host populations in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. It has been postulated that these disparities narrow with longer residence duration. Our aim was to determine whether CVD risk still differs between migrants and host population after decades of residence and to determine whether this potential convergence of CVD risk would occur mainly among migrants with a strong cultural orientation towards the host culture. METHODS: In the Healthy Life in an Urban Setting study, we obtained data regarding residence duration, cultural orientation as estimated by the Psychological Acculturation Scale and CVD risk as estimated by SCORE among the Dutch host population and first generation migrants from South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese, Moroccan and Turkish ethnic background residing in Amsterdam. Estimated CVD risk was compared with the Dutch, separately for medium-term residence (15-30 years) or long-term residence (>30 years) migrants, and by strong/weak cultural orientation towards the Dutch culture, using age-adjusted regression analyses. RESULTS: Among 8672 participants without prior CVD, estimated CVD risk was higher among migrant groups relative to the Dutch. CVD risk relative to the Dutch did not differ by residence duration (betas ranging from 0.1 to 3.4 for medium-term and from 0.6 to 3.3 for long-term residence, respectively). Furthermore, these patterns did not differ by cultural orientation towards the Dutch culture. CONCLUSION: We find no indication that CVD risk among South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese, Turkish or Moroccan migrants converges to that of the Dutch host population with increasing residence duration, not even among those with strong cultural orientation towards the host culture.

Investigating the Dynamics of Migration and Health in Australia: A Longitudinal Study.

There have been few longitudinal studies investigating the immigrant health and changes in their health with longer residency in the host country. Additionally, the pathways and mechanisms by which transition of health over time occurs are poorly understood, limiting the ability to implement policies that will result in improved health for all, including immigrants. We assessed differences in health outcomes among foreign-born people from English speaking countries and non-English speaking countries relative to native-born Australians over a 10-year period using a large representative longitudinal dataset. We also explored English language proficiency, socio-economic factors and health behaviour factors as possible mechanisms through which health outcomes change over time post-migration. Conventional multilevel mixed and hybrid regression models were used to evaluate health outcomes in 9558 native-born and 3067 foreign-born people from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. There were clear differences in physical health, mental health and self-assessed health between foreign-born subgroups in comparison with native-born Australians. Foreign-born people from English speaking countries typically had a health advantage relative to native-born people, and foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries had a health disadvantage with respect to native-born people for all health outcomes. There was no evidence that these differences changed by duration of residence except for self-assessed health amongst foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries when duration of residence exceeded 20 years. English language proficiency mediated the relationship between duration of residence and health for foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries.

Diurnal salivary cortisol and nativity/duration of residence in Latinos: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Latino immigrants have lower prevalence of depression, obesity and cardiovascular disease than US-born Latinos when they are recently arrived in the US, but this health advantage erodes with increasing duration of US residence. Cumulative exposure to psychosocial stress and its physiological sequelae may mediate the relationship between nativity and duration of US residence and poor health. We used data from Latino cohort study participants ages 45-84 to examine cross-sectional (n=558) and longitudinal (n=248) associations between nativity and duration of US residence and features of the diurnal cortisol curve including: wake-up cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR, wake-up to 30min post-awakening), early decline (30min to 2h post-awakening) and late decline (2h post-awakening to bed time), wake-to-bed slope, and area under the curve (AUC). In cross-sectional analyses, US-born Latinos had higher wake-up cortisol than immigrants with fewer than 30 years of US residence. In the full sample, over 5 years the CAR and early decline became flatter and AUC became larger. Over 5 years, US-born Latinos had greater increases in wake-up cortisol and less pronounced flattening of the early diurnal cortisol decline than immigrants with fewer than 30 years of US residence. Immigrants with 30 or more years of US residence also had less pronounced flattening of the early decline relative to more recent immigrants, and also had a less pronounced increase in AUC. In sum, we saw limited cross-sectional evidence that US-born Latinos have more dysregulated cortisol than recently-arrived Latino immigrants, but over time US-born Latinos had slower progression of cortisol dysregulation.

Migration from new-accession countries and duration expectancy in the EU-15: 2002-2008.

European Union (EU) enlargements in 2004 and 2007 were accompanied by increased migration from new-accession to established-member (EU-15) countries. The impacts of these flows depend, in part, on the amount of time that persons from the former countries live in the latter over the life course. In this paper, we develop period estimates of duration expectancy in EU-15 countries among persons from new-accession countries. Using a newly developed set of harmonised Bayesian estimates of migration flows each year from 2002 to 2008 from the Integrated Modelling of European Migration (IMEM) Project, we exploit period age patterns of country-to-country migration and mortality to summarize the average number of years that persons from new-accession countries could be expected to live in EU-15 countries over the life course. In general, the results show that the amount of time that persons from new-accession countries could be expected to live in the EU-15 nearly doubled after 2004.

The role of social capital in explaining mental health inequalities between immigrants and Swedish-born: a population-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Social capital may theoretically explain health inequalities between social groups, but empirical evidence is lacking. Some studies indicate that social capital may be particularly important for immigrant health. Nearly 16% of Sweden's population are foreign-born immigrants and research has shown them to be susceptible to psychological distress, though significant variation has been found between groups. In this study, we investigate the following hypotheses: 1) if non-refugees have better mental health than Swedish-born, and refugees experience worse mental health than Swedish-born; 2) if mental health status converges with that of Swedish-born with longer duration of residence; and 3) if social capital mediates the effect of immigrant status on psychological distress for different immigrant groups as compared to Swedish-born. METHODS: This cross-sectional study uses baseline data from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort and includes 50,498 randomly-selected individuals from Stockholm County in 2002, 2006, and 2010. Mental health was measured as psychological distress, using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Social capital was measured using indicators of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. Both cognitive and structural aspects were measured for the latter two indicators. Mediation was tested using logistic regression and the Sobel test. RESULTS: The results show that refugees generally had greater odds of psychological distress than non-refugees compared to their respective Swedish-born counterparts. Among immigrant men, both refugees and non-refugees had significantly greater odds of psychological distress than Swedish-born men. Only refugee women in Sweden 10 years or more had significantly greater odds of psychological distress compared to Swedish-born women. The mediation analysis demonstrated that indicators of social capital mediated the association for all immigrant men (except non-refugees in Sweden 3-9 years) and for refugee women in Sweden 10 years or more. While bonding social capital showed the greatest mediatory role among the three social capital types, adding them together had the strongest explanatory effect. CONCLUSIONS: Social capital explains differences in mental health for some immigrant groups, highlighting its role as a potentially important post-migration factor. Increased investment from policy-makers regarding how social capital can be promoted among new arrivals may be important for preventing psychological distress.

Exploring reasons for ethnic disparities in diet- and lifestyle-related chronic disease for Asian sub-groups in New Zealand: a scoping exercise.

OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to explore if the impact of various risk factors for chronic disease differed for people of Chinese, Indian and New Zealand European and Other (NZEO) ethnicities. DESIGN: Data analysed for this paper was extracted from the 2003-04 and the 2006-07 NZ Health surveys for adults aged 25-70 which used a cross-sectional survey design. Data from both the survey waves were combined and all statistical analysis was done using SAS version 9.2 or 9.3. Ethnicity of participants was coded using a priority-based classification system as (1) Indian, (2) Chinese, (3) Other Asian, (4) NZEO, (5) Maori and (6) Pacific. Only data for Indians, Chinese and NZEO were used for the current study. Prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals for chronic disease and the associated risk factors were generated to describe the sample. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether the difference in the change in risk of chronic disease with different exposures was different according to ethnicity. RESULTS: Higher deprivation resulted in increased risk of chronic disease in Indian and Chinese males but not in NZEO males (p = .03). There was a weak evidence for a differing effect of physical activity (p = .10) on chronic disease with the protective effect not seen in Indian or Chinese participants. CONCLUSION: The results of the current study indicate that some factors such as socio-economic deprivation and physical activity may impact differently on the prevalence of chronic disease according to ethnicity. The authors recommend further investigation of these factors using improved and innovative methodology and high-quality ethnicity data to better understand the factors underpinning ethnic disparities in disease prevalence among Asian sub-groups.

Association of the duration of residence with obesity-related eating habits and dietary patterns among Latin-American immigrants in Spain.

The dietary patterns of immigrants usually change with the duration of residence and progressively resemble those of the host country. However, very few studies have investigated individuals migrating to countries with a high-quality diet, such as the Mediterranean diet (MD), and none has yet focused on Latin-American immigrants. The present study examined the association of the duration of residence with obesity-related eating habits and dietary patterns among Latin-American immigrants residing in Spain. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008-10 in a representative sample of the adult population residing in Spain. Adherence to the MD was defined as a MD Adherence Screener score ≥ 9. Analyses were conducted by including 419 individuals aged 18-64 years born in Latin-American countries. Compared with immigrants residing in Spain for < 5 years, those residing for ≥ 10 years accounted for a lower percentage of individuals who habitually ate at fast-food restaurants and never trimmed visible fat from meat. Moreover, these immigrants were found to have a lower intake of sugary beverages and a higher intake of Na, saturated fat, fibre, olive oil, vegetables and fish and to more frequently strictly adhere to the MD. A longer duration of residence in Spain was found to be associated with both healthy and unhealthy changes in some eating habits and dietary patterns among Latin-American immigrants. Some of the healthy changes observed contrasted the 'Westernisation' of the diet reported in studies conducted in other Western countries. The results of the present study support the role of the food environment of the host country in the modification of the dietary patterns of immigrants.

A profile of New Zealand 'Asian' participants of the 2008/09 Adult National Nutrition Survey: focus on dietary habits, nutrient intakes and health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate similarities and differences in dietary habits, nutrient intakes and health outcomes of South Asians (SA) and East and South-East Asians (ESEA) and the New Zealand European and Other (NZEO) group, and to examine differences within 'Asian' subgroups according to duration of residence. DESIGN: Nutrient intake data from 24 h diet recalls and data from the dietary habits questionnaire, anthropometry and biochemical analyses from the cross-sectional 2008/09 Adult National Nutrition Survey in New Zealand were compared for participants categorized as SA, ESEA and NZEO. SUBJECTS: Adults aged 15 years and older (n 2995). SETTING: New Zealand households. RESULTS: SA were more likely to 'never' eat red meat in comparison to NZEO (P<0.001) and among females also in comparison to ESEA (P<0.05). Intakes of fats and some micronutrients (riboflavin, vitamin B6, B12, Se) were lower among SA than NZEO (P<0.05). Lower intakes of Zn and vitamin B12 were reported by SA females compared with ESEA and NZEO females (P<0.05). A higher percentage of SA were obese using ethnic-specific cut-offs, had lower indices of Fe status and reported diagnosed diabetes compared with NZEO and ESEA. Recent SA male migrants had higher intakes of ß-carotene, vitamin C and Ca compared with long-term migrants (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study indicate that dietary habits, nutrient intakes, blood profile and body size differ significantly between Asian subgroups. It also provides some evidence for changes in dietary intakes according to duration of residence especially for SA males.

Nativity, duration of residence and chronic health conditions in Australia: do trends converge towards the native-born population?

Using data from waves 3, 7 and 9 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, a group-mean-centred multilevel mixed model and self-reported chronic conditions, this study contributes to the limited longitudinal evidence on the nativity health gap in Australia. We investigated whether differences exist in the reporting of any chronic condition (including cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), arthritis, diabetes and respiratory disease), and in the total number of chronic conditions, between foreign-born (FB) from English speaking (ES) and non-English speaking (NES) countries and native-born (NB) Australians. We also investigated differences between these groups in the reporting of any chronic condition, and the total number of chronic conditions, by duration of residence. After adjusting for time varying and time invariant covariates, we found a significant difference by nativity status in the reporting of chronic condition, with immigrants from both ES and NES countries less likely to report a chronic condition and having fewer chronic conditions compared with the NB. Immigrants from both ES and NES countries living in Australia for less than 20 years were significantly less likely to report a chronic condition compared with the NB. However, the health of both these groups converged to that of the NB population in terms of reporting a chronic condition after 20 years of stay in Australia.