healthy immigrants

[michael perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have only glanced at the article.  One possible implication -- given
our social darwinist society -- might bethat immigrants are fitter than
we are.  Our forefathers believed that immigrants were the most fit to
control the land when they were stealing it from the indigenous
population.  I don't think that our leaders would accept that thesis --
that the immgrants are the most fit -- today.


"Unhealthy Assimilation: Why Do Immigrants Converge to American
Health Status Levels?"

     BY:  HEATHER ANTECOL
             Claremont McKenna College - Department of Economics
             Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
          KELLY BEDARD
             University of California - Department of Economics

Document:  Available from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection:
          http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=758347

Paper ID:  IZA Discussion Paper No. 1654
   Date:  July 2005

Contact:  HEATHER ANTECOL
  Email:  Mailto:heather.antecol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 Postal:  Claremont McKenna College - Department of Economics
          500 E. Ninth St.
          Claremont, CA 91711-6420  UNITED STATES
  Phone:  909-607-7140
    Fax:  909-621-8249
Co-Auth:  KELLY BEDARD
  Email:  Mailto:KELLY@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 Postal:  University of California - Department of Economics
          Santa Barbara, CA 93106  UNITED STATES

ABSTRACT:
It is well documented that immigrants are in better health upon
arrival in the United States than their American counterparts,
but that this health advantage erodes over time. We study the
potential determinants of this "healthy immigrant effect", with
a particular focus on the tendency of immigrants to converge to
unhealthy American BMI levels. Using data from the National
Health Interview Survey, we find that the average female and
male immigrants enter the U.S. with BMIs that are approximately
two and five percentage points lower than native-born women and
men, respectively. And, consistent with the declining health
status of immigrants the longer they remain in the United
States, we also find that female immigrants almost completely
converge to American BMIs within ten years of arrival and men
close a third of the gap within fifteen years.


JEL Classification: I1, J1

--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901