Report finds immigrants healthier on arrival

A report released by the Department of Health last week found that New Yorkers born in a foreign country are generally healthier than those New Yorkers born inside the United States. However, according to the report entitled &#8220The Health of Immigrants in New York City,” the health of foreign-born New Yorkers continues to deteriorate the longer they remain in the City.
&#8220Exposure to the U.S. environment appears to increase their risk of obesity and may contribute to a decline in general health,” said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas J. Frieden. &#8220Language barriers, immigration status and environmental factors such as greater availability of unhealthy food and decreased physical activity may worsen health among some immigrant New Yorkers.”
Although the study concluded that foreign-born New Yorkers are generally healthier, it also collected data that showed challenges that immigrants face within the health fields.
Access to health care and preventative care services (particularly among Spanish-speaking immigrants) were two of the main findings addressed by the study.
However, it also revealed that significant differences existed in health issues depending on their country of origin. Some examples from the report include the rate of new HIV diagnoses among adults born in Haiti being four times more than the rate of the foreign-born population, adults born in Panama and Honduras are likely to become obese and adults born in Ukraine are twice as likely to smoke as other foreign-born New Yorkers.
Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Guillermo Linares said that this report is important in determining the health factors affecting immigrants as well as possible solutions to these problems.
&#8220Making sure that children get to school, that workers perform their tasks and businesses open their doors every day protects the health of all New Yorkers,” Linares said. &#8220I encourage health care providers and policy makers to use this report to tailor their outreach to the needs of immigrants.”