Paper Title
Obesity And Diabetes Among Middle Eastern Immigrants In The United States: An Analysis Of The 2000-2017 National Health Interview Survey
Abstract
Objectives: This study examines sexdifferences with regard to the prevalence of obesity and diabetes among Middle Eastern immigrants in the US. Additionally, I examine whether having access to health care and length of residence in the US have influence on the prevalence of obesity and diabetes among ME immigrant men and women.
Methods: I used pooled data from the 2000-2017 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) to estimateobesity and diabetes prevalence among ME immigrants in the US. I also compared the prevalence of obesity and diabetes between ME immigrant women and men. A series of logistic regression will be conducted to model the probability of being obeseand diabeticand whether having access to health care and length of residence in the US influence the prevalence of obesity and diabetes among this group.
Results: I found that the prevalence of obesity was 20.02% among ME immigrants and the prevalence of diabetes was 6.67%. I also found significance differences based on sex with regard to obesity, where ME men were more likely than ME women to be overweight, 43.63% and 24.36%respectively, and ME women were more likely than ME men to be obese, 21.34% and 18.89%respectively (P<.0001). ME men were more likely than ME women to report having diabetes, 7.91% and 5.13%respectively (P<.05). When estimating the outcome variables by age groups, I found that ME individuals who are 65 years old or above were significantly more likely to be obese 30.68% and diabetic 20.45% compared to those from other age groups (P<.0001).
Keywords: Obesity, Diabetes, Middle Eastern, Immigrants, Health