Africans Who Arrive in the United States before 20 Years of Age Maintain Both Cardiometabolic Health and Cultural Identity: Insight from the Africans in America Study.

ABSTRACT: The overall consensus is that foreign-born adults who come to America age < 20 y achieve economic success but develop adverse behaviors (smoking and drinking) that lead to worse cardiometabolic health than immigrants who arrive age ≥ 20 y. Whether age of immigration affects the health of African-born Blacks living in America is unknown. Our goals were to examine cultural identity, behavior, and socioeconomic factors and determine if differences exist in the cardiometabolic health of Africans who immigrated to America before and after age 20 y. Of the 482 enrollees (age: 38 ± 1 (mean ± SE), range: 20-65 y) in the Africans in America cohort, 23% (111/482) arrived age < 20 y, and 77% (371/482) arrived age ≥ 20 y. Independent of francophone status or African region of origin, Africans who immi

SUBMITTER: Shoup EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7765413 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature