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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.076810v1 AJPH.2005.076810v2 97/2/337    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allen, M. L. Articles by Schuster, M. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Allen, M. L. Articles by Schuster, M. A. Related Collections Adolescent Health Exercise/Physical Activity Nutrition/Food Prevention Asians Hispanics/Latinos

Michele L. Allen, MD, MS, Marc N. Elliott, PhD, Leo S. Morales, MD, PhD, Allison L. Diamant, MD, MSHS, Katrin Hambarsoomian, MS and Mark A. Schuster, MD, PhD

At the time the study was conducted, Michele L. Allen was with the Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) and the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, Los Angeles. Marc N. Elliott is with RAND Health, Santa Monica, Calif, and the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion. Leo S. Morales is with the UCLA Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, and the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Los Angeles. Allison L. Diamant is with RAND Health, UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research. Katrin Hambarsoomian is with RAND Health. Mark A. Schuster is with the UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, RAND Health, and the Departments of Pediatrics and Health Services, UCLA.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Michele Allen, University of Minnesota, Department of Family Medicine and Program in Health Disparities Research, G254 Mayo Memorial Building, MMC 451 420 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (e-mail: miallen{at}umn.edu).

Objectives. We investigated preventive health behaviors (bicycle helmet, seat belt, and sunscreen use), physical activity, television viewing or video game playing, and nutrition (fruit, vegetable, milk, and soda consumption) among Asian and Latino adolescents living in the United States; assessed trends across generations (first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants or later); and compared each generation with White adolescents.

Methods. We used data from 5801 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years in the representative 2001 California Health Interview Survey.

Results. In multivariate analysis, first-generation Asians measured worse than Whites for preventive health behaviors (lower participation), physical activity (less activity), and television viewing or video game playing (more hours), but improved across generations. For these same behaviors, Latinos were similar to or worse than Whites, and generally showed no improvement across generations. First-generation Asians and Latinos had healthier diets than Whites (higher fruit and vegetable consumption, lower soda consumption). With succeeding generations, Asians’ fruit, vegetable, and soda consumption remained stable, but Latinos’ fruit and vegetable consumption decreased and their soda consumption increased, so that by the third generation Latinos’ nutrition was poorer than Whites’.

Conclusions. For the health behaviors we examined, Asian adolescents’ health behaviors either improved with each generation or remained better than that of Whites. Latino adolescents demonstrated generally worse preventive health behaviors than did Whites and, in the case of nutrition, a worsening across generations. Targeted interventions may be needed to address behavioral disparities.