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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2009 May 1;100(3):215–220. [Article in French] doi: 10.1007/BF03405544

Poids, santé générale et santé mentale: la situation de divers sous-groupes d’immigrants au Canada

Pascale Bergeron 116, Nathalie Auger 216,316,✉, Denis Hamel 416
PMCID: PMC6973676  PMID: 19507726

Abstract

Background

Recent immigrants to Canada tend to be healthier than the non-immigrant population. Less is known about the health of different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic subgroups of immigrants in Canada.

Methods

Data were taken from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey (Cycle 3.1). We used multiple logistic regression to examine associations for three immigrant characteristics (1-time since immigration, 2-visible minority status, 3-knowledge of an official language) and three health outcomes (1-self-rated general health, 2-self-rated mental health, 3-body mass index (BMI)) for Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, accounting for socio-demographic characteristics.

Results

Recent immigrants belonging to a visible minority have a lower likelihood of reporting poor general (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.54–0.97) and mental (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.96) health and BMI2≥25 (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.43–0.61) relative to non-immigrants. These associations were not present for recent immigrants not belonging to a visible minority. Immigrants who cannot converse in an official language have a higher likelihood of reporting poor general health (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.06–2.10) relative to non-immigrants. In Toronto and Vancouver (but not Montreal), immigrants were less likely to have an elevated BMI.

Conclusion

This study supports a healthy immigrant effect in Canada. However, the healthy immigrant effect is only present in certain subgroups of immigrants. These findings are important for the planning of health services targeting immigrants.

Key words: Canada, immigration, health status, mental health, body mass index, ethnic groups

Footnotes

Remerciements: Les auteurs tiennent à remercier Robert Choinière pour sa contribution à l’élaboration de cette étude, Philippe Gamache pour son aide concernant les analyses statistiques ainsi que Carolyne Alix pour ses précieux commentaires. PB a reçu l’appui financier du CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville-St-Laurent pour la réalisation de cette recherche.

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