07 juin 2017
Collège J. Leclercq
Solveig Cunnigham (Emory University), Migration and Chronic Disease: The role of place and people in Belgium
À 12h45, LECL 61
Migration entails major lifestyle changes, disruption of social connections, diminished social status, and the stress of navigating new languages, bureaucracies, infrastructures, and social norms. Immigrants tend to have limited access to health care and preventative care, but they tend to be in better health compared with the people they leave behind and with native-born people in their country of reception. However, with duration of residence in the country of reception, immigrants’ health tends to deteriorate, especially with respect to obesity and diabetes. These patterns have often been interpreted as resulting from changes in behaviors and from the contexts of reception. I will present preliminary findings from Belgian national data to quantify the roles of place of origin, context of reception, and health-related behaviors in obesity and diabetes.