Analysis Of The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey

Olabiyi & McIntyre (2014) compare the behavioural characteristics and household socio-demographic variables that coincide with food insecurity in a culture that assumes its citizens are living well. The social determinants of health (SDOH) were emphasized as central precursors to predict food insecurity, such as education, job security, housing, gender, social safety network, and aboriginal status. This article challenges the assumption that all low-income houses are food insecure, and all food insecure household’s area low-income.

Immigrating to a new country is difficult. One of the largest groups of immigrants that migrate to the United States are the Hispanics. There are approximately 11.7 million immigrants in the United States as of January 2010, and the amount continues to increase at a rapid rate (Warren, 2013). On average there are approximately 300,000 Hispanic immigrants entering the United States each year (Warren, 2013). Hispanics come from all Latin America including Mexico, the islands of the Caribbean, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, Central and South America (Warren, 2013). The United States has represented liberty and freedom to these individuals, and they often make critical decisions and take chances in the hope of a better future. Individuals often, leave their home country in hopes of a new beginning. The aim of this paper is to provide an extensive research on the current literature on immigration and acculturation among the Hispanic population.

Poor nutrition in the United States is indeed a scary factor that continues to lead our citizens to chronic healthcare conditions. The article notes “Health People 2020 states the most affected are non-White, Hispanic adult populations are disproportionately affected by obesity” (Kaiser Foundation Hospital, 2014, p. 6)

Over 8.2 million seniors over the age 60 face the threat of food insecurity, up 78% from a decade ago affecting one in seven seniors. The rise in food insecurity is primarily seen among senior Americans with income less than $30,000 or one to two times the poverty level. Younger seniors between the ages 60-69 are becoming more likely to become food insecure than older adults, due to early retirements and not being able to rely on Social Security or Medicare until they reach 65. Elder malnourished patients experience 2 to 20 times more complications and 100% longer hospital stays. Good nutrition is vital to helping America’s 34 million seniors to stay healthy,

Better research on immigrant health and health outcomes would go a long way to shining a light on how to tackle these problems. The current debate in the research concentrates on social determinants of health such as acculturation, which of course influences a lot of other health and healthcare decisions made by immigrants. However, only focusing on social determinants of health undermines the importance of other factors that also heavily affect immigrant health in the United States. Specifically in the case of undocumented immigrants, the debate need to focus on systemic issues impeding access to healthcare as well as pre and post migratory social, political, and economic factors. Some examples that Martinez et al listed include, “specific environmental conditions such as pollution and contamination of water, as well as pre-and-post migration experiences ranging from rape, sexual assault, and abuse to extortion and several other specific geopolitical and economic factors” (966). Social strife, political persecution or famines are real problems that can affect an individuals’ health and specifically their mental health for the rest of their lives. Torres et al urge “those involved in public health research, policy, and practice” to

Nearly one of four Hispanic households are considered to have food insecurity, meaning the amount of income they depend on is limited and not enough, therefore making it impossible for these families to obtain the adequate healthy food

Malnourishment is no longer an issue seen only in the indigent population and developing countries. Many Americans are also plagued with this issue, largely due to unhealthy food choices. Providing a multidisciplinary approach to public nutrition

As of 2013, the foreign-born population has reached 41.3 million, accounting for approximately 13.1% of U.S. residents. The immigrant population comprises naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents (green card holders), temporary workers (most commonly on H-1 visa), and foreign students (most commonly on F-1 or J-1 visa). For the purpose of this paper, I only focus on legal permanent residents (about 13.3 million of them). According to admission requirements by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this body can be further divided into four groups based on their admission criteria: (1) family-sponsored preferences; (2) immediate relatives of U.S. citizens; (3) employment-based preferences and (4) others. However, employment-based immigrants also include many types, priority workers, skilled workers, unskilled workers, investors,

In 2013, there were an estimated 41.3 million immigrants living in the United States. (Krogstad, 2014). According to present estimates, this foreign-born population consists of 18.6 million naturalized US citizens and 22.1 million noncitizens (Cenato, 2013). Among the noncitizens, approximately 13.3 million are permanent legal residents, while 11.3 million (28%) are unauthorized migrants. (Cenato, 2013). The majority of unauthorized immigrants are primarily from Mexico and other Latin American countries, they live Texas, Florida, California, New York and Arizona (Zong et. al 2015).

According to the United Nations, food security is defined as “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (“Rome Declaration,” 1996). Canada has adopted this definition, although they monitor food insecurity per each household and analyze financial barriers causing the situation. Research has shown that 62.2% of households

Over the next several decades, the United States older population will become more racially and ethnically diverse (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014). Between the years 2012 and 2050, the United States is projected to experience considerable amount of growth within its older population aged 65 and over (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014) with the vast majority of immigration being from Mexico than any other country in the world (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014). The immigrant population encounter many adversities once migrated to the U.S which includes immigration, discrimination, difficulty acculturating, language barriers, cultural obstacles, and economic insecurity (Consoli, Consoli, Orozco, Gonzales, & Vera, 2013; Cervantes, Padilla, & Salgado

Information is readily available at the feedingamerica.org website. Hunger in America 2014 reveals that each year, 46.5 million unduplicated individuals receive charitable food assistance through the Feeding America network. This translates to an estimated 1 in 7 Americans or 15.5 million households served by the network each year. In a further breakdown of the statistic, 58,000 food programs reach our Americans 389 Million times a year. 55% are 18 to 59 years old and 17% are 60 and above. That sadly means only16% of all American homes are food secure (Weinfield4). According to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, food secure is defined as the existence of the necessary conditions for human beings to have physical and economic access, in socially acceptable ways, to food that is safe, nutritious and in keeping with their cultural preferences, so as to meet their dietary needs and live productive and healthy lives. The main way food security is even possible is 79% of American homes have to purchase inexpensive unhealthy food to feed their families. Due to unhealthy foods we have obesity, high blood pressure, and other health issues. Speaking of families, 89% of households with children are food insecure. Furthermore, 20% of Feeding America households have a member who has served in the US military. Should you have to choose between eating or

Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this are working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government have now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors and unemployment have cause food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien,

According to UN (1990), household food security defined as “The ability of household members to assure themselves sustained access to sufficient quantity and quality of food to live active and healthy life.” FAO (1992) defines as food security is referred in terms of access to food, availability of food, and also in terms of resource distribution to produce food and purchasing power to buy food, where it is produced. Another definition given by USAID (1992) defines food security as: “when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life.” Based on this food security includes at a minimum the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, and assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (such as without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). According to World Bank

The 2015 Statistical Analysis Poverty Level Data report shows in the United States, there was an increase in which families’ are able to provide food per person within their household. After the devastating financial and economic crisis in 2008, families have been in financial detriment for years trying to maintain consistency in providing food, support, and shelter. Not until the government 2015 report, there were clear evidence of a sufficient rise in food surplus in low income families since 2008. According to the governmental statistical report, 14% of households were suffering from food deficiency. In other words, 17.5 million households, approximate one out of every seven homes could not provide nourishment on a regular basis. This estimate is down from the last statistical data recorded in 2011 at 14.9%.