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Lower BMI and uric acid in Mexican-origin families with greater fear of deportation
Household fear of deportation in Mexican-origin families: Relation to body mass index percentiles and salivary uric acid
Author: Martinez AD, et al. (2017), American Journal of Human Biology
OBJECTIVE: Fear of deportation (FOD) is a prevalent concern among mixed-status families. Yet, our understanding of how FOD shapes human health and development is in its infancy. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we examined the relationship between household FOD, body mass index (BMI) percentiles and salivary uric acid (sUA), a biomarker related to oxidative stress/hypertension/metabolic syndrome, among 111 individuals living in Mexican-origin families.
RESULTS: Higher levels of household FOD were associated with lower BMI percentiles and lower sUA levels between families, after controlling for social support and socioeconomic proxies.
CONCLUSION: Key features of the social ecology in which mixed-status families are embedded are associated with individual differences in biological processes linked to increased risk for chronic disease.
Keywords: Salivary uric acid, BMI, fear, stress, Mexican immigrants
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