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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ming-Chin Yeh, PhD, Nutrition and Food Science, Urban Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Hunter College, 425 E. 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, 212-481-4134, myeh@hunter.cuny.edu, Marianne Fahs, PhD, MPH, Brookdale Center on Aging, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 425 East 25th Street, 13th Floor North, New York, NY NY, Donna Shelley, MD, MPH, Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 W. 168th Street, Suite 526, New York, NY 10032, Rajeev Yerneni, MPH, Hunter College, City University of New York, 425 E. 25th St., Room 915, New York, NY 10010, and Dee Burton, PhD, Urban Public Health Program, School of Health Sciences, Hunter College, City University of New York, 425 E. 25th Street, Rm 923-West, New York, NY 10010.

Background: Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing immigrant populations in the US in recent years. In major cities such as New York City, Chinese Americans constitute the single largest Asian subgroup. Prior literature has suggested that immigrants in general have a healthier body weight than that of the US-born population; however, acculturation to the US environment over time may lead to an increase in weight status among immigrants. With the prevalence of obesity reaching an epidemic proportion in the US presently, it is important to study the magnitude of change in weight status and the effect of acculturation on weight status among Chinese Americans, a group that has not been studied extensively. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that involved a multi-stage probability sample of Chinese Americans residing in 2 communities in New York City. In-person, household-based interviews were conducted with adults ages 18-74 years. This is the largest probability-based sample of Chinese people, focused on health, in the US with more than 2500 participants who completed the interviews (n=2537). Results: The overall mean body mass index (BMI) was 22.81. People who had a lower education had a higher BMI than that of those who had a higher education (P< 0.005). Participants who stayed in the US longer also had a significantly higher BMI compared with those who stayed shorter. On the contrary, those who were more acculturated had a significantly lower BMI compared with those who were less acculturated (22.25 vs. 22.97, p< 0.005).

Learning Objectives: