IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A University of California study says black immigrants from Africa are healthy when they arrive in the United States but their health erodes as they stay.
In the first national study of its kind, a UC-Irvine sociologist found African immigrants from black majority countries are healthier than black immigrants from white-majority regions.
But regardless of how healthy black immigrants are when they arrive, the longer they stay, the more their health erodes. The study suggests racial discrimination is a major cause of poor health for blacks in the United States -- native and foreign-born alike.
UCI's Jen'nan Ghazal Read, along with Michael Emerson of Houston's Rice University, examined the health of more than 2,900 black immigrants.
Read says racial minorities are exposed to more stressful life events caused by discrimination. Stress, a key risk factor for many ailments, accumulates over the life course to harm health. The study is published in the September issue of Social Forces.
