Healthy Immigrant Effect Analysis

America has been a melting pot of cultures for many centuries, with the number of immigrants continually rising every year. Most of these immigrants come into the country with nothing at all except for the clothes on their backs and a few English words. But they also bring with them something special – their cultures and traditions from their homeland. In the Immigrant Advantage, readers can see that these specific traditions that they bring with them give them an advantage because they tend to have better mental and physical health than their native born American counterparts (5).

Juana Mora in “Acculturation Is Bad for Our Health: Eat More Nopalitos” argues that the United States offers many job and educational opportunities for Latinos, but acculturation in America negatively impacts their health. Mora offers research and statistics, most of which I find compelling, to explain that these illnesses are primarily due to the immigrants’ new “daily habits and environment changes” (Mora 660). After arriving in America, immigrants often live in crime-ridden, low income neighborhoods, rely on fast food, abuse alcohol and tobacco products, and have fewer safe areas for exercise. Additionally, the stress caused “by learning a new language and culture” and “living in new and sometimes dangerous environments” causes illnesses such as post-traumatic

Although some argue otherwise, immigrants have a positive impact on our society. It is ironic how "within the country founded by Immigrants- Immigrant somehow become a bad word" (K'Naan). Although statistics prove that immigrants do bring overcrowding, drug trafficking, and diseases, they also impact positively on our economy and bring cultural knowledge. Being an immigrant in America is no easy task, they work long hours and most of the time have multiple jobs. Because the American dollar has greater value, immigrants will take any job that pays better than their home country. This often means they do the unwanted jobs of Americans. Immigrants fight hard to work their way to America with the American dream in mind, but once here that dream becomes very distant due to unexpected challenges they faced. In Valeria Luiselli book "Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions", she addresses her experience as an interpreter for immigration court of the state of New York, discussing the stories she has heard with the immigration process. Throughout the book, she explains her view of the lack of sympathy and protection the United States has for the young immigrants. Her purpose to show the difficulties the immigrants go through - their sacrifice, resilience, and strength as they fight to survive and obtain a better life in America can also be seen in K'naan video - "The Hamilton Mixtape: Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)", through his use of symbolism everywhere in the music.

“The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness, and Hope” Book Review

Foreign-born citizens are correlated with better academic achievement and mental health in comparison with native-born. The phenomena are widely recognized as immigrant advantage. Many factors influence the advantage foreign-born immigrants experience. Examples of influencing factors are: Family, Bilingualism, Socioeconomic Status, and Education.

Canada has always been recognized as a multicultural country with a diversity of ethnic groups. According to the 2006 census (Statistics Canada, 2006), there was a total of 1,109,980 new immigrants arriving Canada from various countries between 2001 and 2006. The Multiculturalism Act (1988) is adopted to encourage ethnic groups to preserve their own languages and cultural heritages while integrating into the Canadian culture (Minster of Justice, 1984). Despite that, constant barriers remain in immigrants’ experiences of acculturation. Newcomers who failed to acculturate into the host country may experience social exclusion, which could result in a reduction in their health statuses. Although recent immigrants are often healthier than the general Canadian population, their health status tend to converge to the Canadian-born population with increased length of residence; for instance, statistics revealed worsening immigrant health in chronic conditions like diabetes and tuberculosis (Statistics Canada, 2002). This is referred as the “healthy immigrant effect”. Immigrants’ initial healthy status is explained by self-selection reasons, and screenings that are regulated by the Immigration Act (Statistics Canada, 2002). However, it is more crucial to understand the reasons for their deterioration in health over time. In this paper, we will explore a framework that explains the pathway between social exclusion, an important social determinant of health, and the deterioration in the

Research indicates that immigrant groups are likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) at varying degrees irrespective of whether they are voluntary migrants or refugees. However, refugees are known to suffer higher rates of mental health disorders ranging from PSTD to depression (Rasmussen et al., 2012). It is also known that refugees are likely to have more pre-migration risk for trauma than voluntary immigrants. Even though most refugees flee their home countries to reduce the risk of distress, research indicates that the well-being of such immigrants deteriorates with increasing time spent in the host countries

In the article “The Health Toll of Immigration” by Sabrina Tavernise explains that immigrants of Hispanic heritage live longer than American born persons of Hispanic heritage. Many causes of this have been suspected such as smoking and drinking but ultimately it is the American diet of fast food that seems to be the reason for poor health (Tavernise 2013). Fast food was a luxury to some and to others it was a money saver. Fast food is fast and cheap making it an easy stop for many families on the run. The statistic is that “Hispanic immigrants live 2.9 years longer than American-born Hispanics” (Tavernise 2013). America’s fast food diet has also been moving into Mexico. When it comes to obesity “Hispanic adults are also 14 percent more likely to be obese…for

The social environment of an individual creates the medium in which a person must navigate through and react to. A healthy social environment would include freedom from discrimination, racism, and any type of violence; whether in the workplace, at school, or within the walls of one’s own home. New immigrants, Aboriginals, or poor citizens can often feel socially excluded from community life or events, which would impact both physical and mental health of the individuals (Potter and Perry, 2014 p.10).

The decline in immigrant health status over time can be attributed to the acculturation process (Singh & Siahpush, 2001; Akresh, 2007)This hypothesis implies that culture that initially induces better health outcomes and lower mortality rates among immigrants begins to erode as immigrants acculturate and adapt to the negative health behaviors and lifestyles within the host society (Akresh, 2007; Angel, Buckley, & Sakamoto, 2001).In addition, the literature stresses other factors, such as: lack of access to the health care system (Abraído-Lanza, Chao, & Flórez, 2005), stress associated with migration (Newbold & Danforth, 2003; Biddle, Kennedy, & McDonald, 2007; Dean & Wilson, 2010), exposure to racism and anti-immigrant discrimination as well

Immigration is a major factor that is greatly contributing to the unprecedented demographic changes that are presently occurring in the United States. Limited literature exists concerning the psychosocial and mental health problems experienced by immigrants as a result of immigrating and subsequent adjustments. Undocumented immigrants have no legal rights and are often emotionally, physically, and economically abused. Without the right to vote and stay in the U.S. legally, immigrants have little power to change oppressive social structures. Given the dramatically growing immigrant population in the U.S., multicultural social justice counselors are confronted with a challenge to provide culturally responsive services for this population

The huge lack of equal rights, access to training and information, and concealment the workers receive can be sources causing pressure, anxiety, and stress. All these factors added to the unsettledness they face day to day from their working, living, and health care issues effect the mental state of these immigrants. The isolation and segregation the workers feel come from a sense of superiority Canadian citizens present to the workers, when in the reality of the circumstances, these workers should be looked upon nothing less than equal due to the fact that they are working hard to do jobs Canada needs to be done. Along with the isolation, the problem of the lack of community in which these workers encounter is directly linked. In many communities in Canada, seasonal workers are viewed as “others”, even though they return annually. (Dube 2007). This shows signs of uneasiness and these workers start to see themselves as “others”. Not to mention, where language barriers exist, there will always be some feeling of isolation and without being comfortable to able to ask for what they need, migrants’ mental health can be affected causing depression. Without communication and a community these migrant workers can not become accustomed to the Canadian norms and practices. These negative experiences ultimately affect Canada, as

Neonatal and perinatal health outcomes will influencing the overall future health of an individual. Indeed, many illnesses and disorders originate from prenatal and early infancy abnormal developments. Preterm-birth and low-birth weight have been positively correlated with adverse health outcomes ranging from childhood to the adult life of an individual. Thus, it is essential for public health professionals to understand not only the biological factors influencing birth timing and weight, but also the psychosocial dynamics which may impact those outcomes. For years, many scientists have observed what is called the ‘migrant paradox’. The migrant paradox designates a situation where first generation immigrants who are almost systematically socio-economically disadvantaged exhibit better health outcomes as the native-born population. There could be multiple causes to this migrant paradox. In this paper, I will attempt to evaluate multiple studies aimed at tackling the link between perinatal and neonatal health outcomes and migrant status. Those papers have been published within the past 15 years, with the notable exception of Rumbault’s 1997 paper on assimilation. In this article, the American sociologists suggests that assimilation does not always carry out positive consequences on the health of immigrants. Indeed, some elements of the habitus of the native-born population may have adverse effects on health outcomes. Thus, while assimilating, the immigrants lose negative and

It is imperative to explore cross-cultural findings that compare the psychological health and development of various cultural groups in the context of immigration. Studies comparing immigrant children to native children and immigrant children of different cultural backgrounds will be discussed. It is also important to see if there is a connection between individuals who have immigrated and their risk of developing schizophrenic

Alongside religion, diseases is also a vital component in the opposition towards immigration. In this case, it occurred in the 16th century in South America. There had been “approximately 75 million American Indians whom the Spaniards encountered had no resistance to European diseases such as smallpox and measles. Within half a century the population of Mexico had been decimated—cut from more than 30 million to less than 3 million— as a result of diseases that had been introduced by the Europeans" (2017). While every race lives in a similar environment that’s similar, every race has major factors that make a race different from another race. Because of those components that make them so diverse, when a group of immigrant arrives to land that their ancestors