Demographic Analysis of SES Stability & Well-Being Among Children of Immigrants

描述(申请人提供)：拟议研究的目标是研究移民子女和当地人子女的社会经济地位(SES)、社会经济不稳定和超重之间的关系。这个话题很重要，因为超过五分之一的美国儿童是移民的孩子，他们中的许多人超重或肥胖的风险很高。然而，人们对移民子女在童年中期的体重轨迹知之甚少，这个年龄段的干预可能最有效。此外，对移民子女的研究提供了一个独特的机会，帮助解决关于社会经济-健康梯度的文献中的一些不一致之处。公共卫生和人口统计文献中一个更持久的发现是，较高的社会经济地位与更好的健康相关(Finch 2003)。然而，社会经济状况和儿童体重状况之间的关系因种族和民族而异，儿童体重状况是健康的关键指标。这项拟议的研究具有创新性，因为它是第一个使用具有全国代表性的纵向数据-早期儿童纵向研究-幼儿园队列-来探索移民子女的体重轨迹模式的研究之一，但它也是理论上的动机，借鉴了同化理论、营养理论和社会分层理论，超越了对出生状态和肥胖的描述性描述。很大一部分拉美裔和亚裔是移民或移民的子女。然而，公共卫生和流行病学的研究文献才刚刚开始按出生地或世代地位来区分群体，还没有在研究社会经济地位梯度的教育程度的结构效度时考虑出生国特征或出生地差异。与以前的研究不同，我们关注SES的相对和绝对测量，以最好地评估SES和肥胖之间的关系。通过运用社会学和人口学对移民及其原籍国的见解，我们解决了儿童健康方面的种族/民族差异问题。这项研究将作为一个更大的项目的跳板，该项目将研究SES梯度背后的行为和社会心理机制，但也将检查一些结构变化，这些变化往往伴随着SES的变化，这些变化可能与不同的体重轨迹相关。公共卫生相关性：这项拟议研究的目标是研究移民子女和土著子女的社会经济地位(SES)、社会经济不稳定和超重之间的关系。这项拟议的研究意义重大，因为超过五分之一的美国儿童是移民的孩子，他们中的许多人超重或肥胖的风险很高。除了与移民子女的健康和福祉相关外，关于移民健康的研究还将重点放在美国环境对所有儿童(无论是移民还是本土儿童)健康的影响上。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed research is to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), socioeconomic instability and overweight among young children of immigrants and children of natives. This topic is significant because over one in five U.S. children is the child of an immigrant, many of whom are at high risk of becoming overweight or obese. Yet little is known about weight trajectories for children of immigrants in middle childhood, the age when interventions might be most effective. In addition, research on the children of immigrants provides a unique opportunity to help resolve some of the inconsistencies in the literature on the socioeconomic-health gradient. One of the more enduring findings in the public health and demographic literature is that higher SES is associated with better health (Finch 2003). Yet the relationship between SES and child's weight status, a key indicator of health, varies across race and ethnic groups. The proposed research is innovative because it is one of the first studies to use nationally representative, longitudinal data-the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort-to explore weight trajectory patterns among children of immigrants, but is also theoretically motivated, drawing on assimilation theory, nutrition theory, and social stratification theory to move beyond just a descriptive portrait of nativity status and obesity. A large proportion of Hispanics and Asians are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Yet the research literature in public health and epidemiology has only just begun to distinguish groups by nativity or generational status, and has not yet considered country of origin characteristics or nativity variation in the construct validity of educational attainment in research on the SES-gradient. Unlike prior studies we focus on both relative and absolute measures of SES to best assess the relationship between SES and obesity. By applying insights from sociology and demography about immigrants and their countries of origin, we address the question of race/ethnic disparities in children's health. The research will serve as a springboard for a larger project which will examine the behavioral and social psychological mechanisms underlying the SES-gradient, but also will examine some of the structural changes that tend t accompany shifts in SES that could be associated with different weight trajectories. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of the proposed research is to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), socioeconomic instability and overweight among young children of immigrants and children of natives. The proposed research is significant because over one in five U.S. children is the child of an immigrant, many of whom are at high risk of becoming overweight or obese. In addition to having relevance to the health and well-being of children of immigrants, research on immigrant health focuses attention on the effects of the U.S. environment on the health of all children, immigrant or native.