Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1990 Dec;80(Suppl):20–26. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.suppl.20

Health risk behaviors of Hispanics in the United States: findings from HHANES, 1982-84.

G Marks 1, M Garcia 1, J M Solis 1
PMCID: PMC1404510  PMID: 9187577

Abstract

With data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES), we examined several health risk behaviors (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, dietary practices, and recency of health screening) of Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican adults (ages 20-74). For each sample, a greater percentage of men than women smoked cigarettes and used alcohol. Heavy smoking (20+ cigarettes per day) was most prevalent for Cuban American males, and heavy drinking (1.00+ oz ethanol per day) was most prevalent for Mexican American and Puerto Rican men. Acculturation correlated positively with alcohol use (particularly for females) and negatively with dietary balance (for Mexican American men and women). The Puerto Ricans' diet was less balanced than that of the other two groups. For each sample, more men than women had not had a routine physical or dental examination within the past five years; the recency of screening was lowest for Mexican American men. Screening (including Pap smear for the women) was lower for those who smoked cigarettes and for those with poor dietary practices, indicating that many Hispanics at special risk of disease underutilize preventive health services, increasing the likelihood of diagnosis at a later stage of illness.

Full text

PDF
20

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aday L. A., Andersen R. M. The national profile of access to medical care: where do we stand? Am J Public Health. 1984 Dec;74(12):1331–1339. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.12.1331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersen R., Lewis S. Z., Giachello A. L., Aday L. A., Chiu G. Access to medical care among the Hispanic population of the southwestern United States. J Health Soc Behav. 1981 Mar;22(1):78–89. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burnam M. A., Hough R. L., Karno M., Escobar J. I., Telles C. A. Acculturation and lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. J Health Soc Behav. 1987 Mar;28(1):89–102. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Byers T. E., Graham S., Haughey B. P., Marshall J. R., Swanson M. K. Diet and lung cancer risk: findings from the Western New York Diet Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1987 Mar;125(3):351–363. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114542. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chavez L. R., Cornelius W. A., Jones O. W. Mexican immigrants and the utilization of U.S. health services: the case of San Diego. Soc Sci Med. 1985;21(1):93–102. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90291-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chesney A. P., Chavira J. A., Hall R. P., Gary H. E., Jr Barriers to medical care of Mexican-Americans: the role of social class, acculturation, and social isolation. Med Care. 1982 Sep;20(9):883–891. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198209000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Delgado J. L., Johnson C. L., Roy I., Treviño F. M. Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: methodological considerations. Am J Public Health. 1990 Dec;80 (Suppl):6–10. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.suppl.6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Deyo R. A., Diehl A. K., Hazuda H., Stern M. P. A simple language-based acculturation scale for Mexican Americans: validation and application to health care research. Am J Public Health. 1985 Jan;75(1):51–55. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.1.51. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Friedman L. A., Kimball A. W. Coronary heart disease mortality and alcohol consumption in Framingham. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 Sep;124(3):481–489. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Friis R., Nanjundappa G., Prendergast T. J., Jr, Welsh M. Coronary heart disease mortality and risk among Hispanics and non-Hispanics in Orange County, California. Public Health Rep. 1981 Sep-Oct;96(5):418–422. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Garcia J. A., Juarez R. Z. Utilization of dental health services by Chicanos and Anglos. J Health Soc Behav. 1978 Dec;19(4):428–436. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gaskill S. P., Allen C. R., Garza V., Gonzales J. L., Waldrop R. H. Cardiovascular risk factors in Mexican Americans in Laredo, Texas. I. Prevalence of overweight and diabetes and distributions of serum lipids. Am J Epidemiol. 1981 May;113(5):546–555. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gordon T., Doyle J. T. Drinking and mortality. The Albany Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1987 Feb;125(2):263–270. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114525. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gwinn M. L., Webster L. A., Lee N. C., Layde P. M., Rubin G. L. Alcohol consumption and ovarian cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 May;123(5):759–766. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114304. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Klesges R. C., Somes G., Pascale R. W., Klesges L. M., Murphy M., Brown K., Williams E. Knowledge and beliefs regarding the consequences of cigarette smoking and their relationships to smoking status in a biracial sample. Health Psychol. 1988;7(5):387–401. doi: 10.1037//0278-6133.7.5.387. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kolonel L. N., Yoshizawa C. N., Hankin J. H. Diet and prostatic cancer: a case-control study in Hawaii. Am J Epidemiol. 1988 May;127(5):999–1012. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114903. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Markides K. S., Krause N., Mendes de Leon C. F. Acculturation and alcohol consumption among Mexican Americans: a three-generation study. Am J Public Health. 1988 Sep;78(9):1178–1181. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.9.1178. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Marks G., Solis J., Richardson J. L., Collins L. M., Birba L., Hisserich J. C. Health behavior of elderly Hispanic women: does cultural assimilation make a difference? Am J Public Health. 1987 Oct;77(10):1315–1319. doi: 10.2105/ajph.77.10.1315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Norell S. E., Ahlbom A., Erwald R., Jacobson G., Lindberg-Navier I., Olin R., Törnberg B., Wiechel K. L. Diet and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study. Am J Epidemiol. 1986 Dec;124(6):894–902. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Richardson J. L., Marks G., Solis J. M., Collins L. M., Birba L., Hisserich J. C. Frequency and adequacy of breast cancer screening among elderly Hispanic women. Prev Med. 1987 Nov;16(6):761–774. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(87)90016-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Roberts R. E., Lee E. S. Health practices among Mexican Americans: further evidence from the human population laboratory studies. Prev Med. 1980 Sep;9(5):675–688. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(80)90039-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rosén M., Nyström L., Wall S. Diet and cancer mortality in the counties of Sweden. Am J Epidemiol. 1988 Jan;127(1):42–49. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114789. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Stryker W. S., Kaplan L. A., Stein E. A., Stampfer M. J., Sober A., Willett W. C. The relation of diet, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption to plasma beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol levels. Am J Epidemiol. 1988 Feb;127(2):283–296. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Weinstein N. D. Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior. Psychol Bull. 1989 Jan;105(1):31–50. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.105.1.31. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Weinstein N. D., Klotz M. L., Sandman P. M. Optimistic biases in public perceptions of the risk from radon. Am J Public Health. 1988 Jul;78(7):796–800. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.7.796. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES