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Weight Loss Success Among Overweight and Obese Women of Mexican-Origin Living in Mexico and the United States: A Comparison of Two National Surveys

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Abstract

We assessed variations in and correlates of weight-loss success (WLS) among overweight/obese women in Mexico (WIMX) and Mexican–American women (MA). We used cross-national data from 2006 ENSANUT (Mexico) and NHANES (2001–2008) to compare 5061 WIMX with 550 MA’s without known metabolic conditions. WLS was defined as losing ≥5 % of body weight over 1 year. MA’s were more likely to attain WLS (OR 1.31; 95 % CI 1.01–1.70). WLS among WIMX was higher in those with at least high school, a provider screen of overweight and a lower BMI. Among MA’s, an incomplete high school versus primary education reduced the odds of WLS. Among women who lost ≥10 lbs, weight-loss strategies such as eating less were higher among MA’s. MA women were more likely than WIMX to attain WLS. Understanding these disparities can help design customized public health interventions that curb the obesity epidemic in these women in both countries.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded in part by the Programa de Investigación en Migración y Salud (PIMSA). The sponsor had no role in the design and conduct of the study, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or the preparation, review, or approval of the study. IRB approval was obtained from University of California Berkeley Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects and from Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. We wish to thank Héctor Avila-Rosas for the helpful suggestions in defining our outcome variable, and Oscar Rubio for his helpful suggestions in defining “income”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA

    Sylvia Guendelman & Miranda Ritterman Weintraub

  2. Public Health Program, Touro University California, Vallejo, CA, USA

    Miranda Ritterman Weintraub

  3. Obesity and Eating Disorders Clinic, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15; Col. Belisario Domínguez Sección XVI, 14080, Tlalpan, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Martha Kaufer-Horwitz

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  1. Sylvia Guendelman
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Correspondence to Martha Kaufer-Horwitz.

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Guendelman, S., Ritterman Weintraub, M. & Kaufer-Horwitz, M. Weight Loss Success Among Overweight and Obese Women of Mexican-Origin Living in Mexico and the United States: A Comparison of Two National Surveys. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 41–49 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0315-9

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