Thread by @NonHumanMedia1

Unhealthy assimilation: Why do immigrants converge to American health status levels? 🧵1/8
semanticscholar.org/paper/Unhealth…

"A key stylized fact that is generally supported in the literature is that upon arrival in the United States immigrants are healthier than their native counterparts, but that over time this health advantage dissipates. This phenomenon is often called the Healthy Immigrant Effect”

"First, immigrants are positively selected and are hence in better health either by choice or due to the U.S. immigration screening process. Second, unhealthy immigrants may be more likely to return to their home country."

"While the bulk of assimilation for the probability of being in poor health takes place within the first decade after arrival, immigrant assimilation in terms of health conditions and activity limitations occurs more slowly."

"First, the overall assimilation patterns hold for Hispanic immigrants, irrespective of gender. Second, the point estimates for black immigrants reveal that neither men nor women assimilate to their black native-born counterparts."

"However, assimilation towards U.S. levels eventually erases all or most of the initial health advantage for all immigrants, for Hispanic immigrants, and depending on the health measure for white immigrants, but not for black immigrants."

"...both newly arrived black immigrants and those who have resided in the U.S. for 15+ years have lower BMIs than native blacks, although the group with longer U.S. residence has a higher average BMI than the recently arrived group."

"Finally, black immigrants do not assimilate in terms of BMI irrespective of gender. Caution, however, should be used in interpreting these results due to the small number of black immigrants."
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