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Posted by I agree on 9/15/2005, 6:54:16, in reply to "Immigrants’ health declines" --Previous Message--
205.250.55.211
It is called Stress, and the lack of familial support!
: Immigrants’ health declines
: Statistics Canada survey reveals that new
: Canadians have better health when they
: arrive — but that appears to change over
: time
: BY NORMA GREENAWAY
: Ottawa Citizen
:
: OTTAWA — Immigrants may land in Canada
: boasting better health than most native-born
: Canadians. But their physical well-being
: appears to deteriorate over time, especially
: among those who hailed from Africa, Asia and
: other non-European countries, a new
: Statistics Canada study says.
: The report says the health of
: non-European immigrants eventually declines
: to a point where it approximates that of the
: general Canadian-born population.
: The study’s authors suggest possible
: causes of the shift include stresses
: associated with the process of immigrating,
: the natural aging process and couch potato
: lifestyle choices.
: Smoking was not deemed a significant
: factor because non-European immigrants were
: only half as likely as the Canadian-born
: population to start smoking on a daily basis
: between 1994-95 and 2002-03, the authors
: wrote.
: The study, based on an analysis of
: interviews with 14,100 adults who
: participated in the National Population
: Heath Survey, is the first to look at
: immigrants’ perception of their own health
: over the eight-year period.
: “While non-European immigrants were not
: picking up the smoking habit, they were
: somewhat more likely than the Canadian-born
: to have become physically inactive during
: their leisure time,” the study says.
: “This may explain why these immigrants
: were more likely to report declining
: health.”
: It also found non-European immigrants
: were almost twice as likely as the
: Canadian-born population to have experienced
: a substantial weight gain since 1994-95,
: meaning at least a 10 per cent increase in
: their body mass index.
: This group of immigrants also reported
: visiting a doctor more frequently than the
: others over the years. Non-European
: immigrants were 1.5 times more likely than
: the Canadian-born population and European
: immigrants to become so-called frequent
: visitors to doctors, meaning they visited or
: consulted a doctor at last six times during
: the previous year.
: “The process of immigration itself is
: stressful and disruptive, possibly involving
: financial constraints, employment problems
: or the lack of a social support network, all
: of which may undermine health,” the report
: said. “The loss of a support network of
: family and friends in the country of origin
: can be particularly difficult.”
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