US immigration increases Hispanic cancer risk

August 07 2009 by Rebekah Nahai

US immigration can increase health risks

Hispanic immigrants face up to a 40% higher cancer risk after they move to the US, a new study shows.

Study leader Paulo Pinheiro, an epidemiologist from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, says there are differences in cancer rates between Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans.

"Hispanic populations shouldn't all be considered together. There are specificities to each one of them," he said.

The study could not explain precisely why cancer rates increased so drastically, but it attributed the rise in large part to diet and lifestyle adaptations. Similar effects were found in studies of Chinese participants who underwent US immigration in the 1960s.

"[The] major reason is diet changes," Pinheiro said. "Increased dietary fat and dietary obesity causes this. Rates were higher in the acculturated than those moving to US Chinatowns."

He also indicated changes in alcohol and tobacco use, increased consumption of red meat, and less physical exercise.

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