National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation under contract number 282-95-0020 and the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development under cooperative agreement number NO1-HD-6-3253, by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education of the U.S. Department of Education, by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under grant number B6347, by the W.T. Grant Foundation under grant number 94160394, by the Rockefeller Foundation under grant number SI9522, and by the California Wellness Foundation under grant number 9700139. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Children of immigrants : health, adjustment, and public assistance / Donald J. Hernandez, editor ; Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-309-06545-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Children of immigrants—United States—Social conditions. 2. Children of immigrants—United States—Economic conditions. 3. Children of immigrants—Health and hygiene—United States. I. Hernandez, Donald J. II. Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families (U.S.)
HV741 .C536157 1999
362.7′086′91—dc21
99-6624
Suggested citation:
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (1999). Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance. Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, Donald J. Hernandez, editor. Board on Children Youth and Families. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Additional copies of this report are available from:
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Printed in the United States of America
Copyright 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
COMMITTEE ON THE HEALTH AND ADJUSTMENT OF IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Evan Charney (Chair),
Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical Center
Kathleen Gainor Andreoli,
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Rush University
E. Richard Brown,
School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles
Donald J. Cohen,
Child Study Center, Yale University
Janet Currie,
Economics Department, University of California, Los Angeles
Michael Fix,
Population Studies Center, The Urban Institute
Bill Ong Hing,
School of Law, University of California, Davis
Arthur Kleinman,
Harvard Medical School, Harvard University
Alan Kraut,
Department of History, American University
Nancy S. Landale,
Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University
Antonio McDaniel,
Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
Fernando S. Mendoza,
School of Medicine, Stanford University
Victor Nee,
Department of Sociology, Cornell University
Mary L. de Leon Siantz,
School of Nursing, University of Washington
David R. Smith,
Health Sciences Center, Texas Tech University
Alex Stepick,
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Florida International University
Sylvia Fernandez Villarreal,
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco General Hospital
David Featherman (Liaison),
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
Fernando Guerra (Liaison),
Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Donald J. Hernandez, Study Director
Katherine Darke, Research Assistant
Nancy Geyelin Margie, Research Assistant
Karen Autrey, Senior Project Assistant
Ronné Wingate, Project Assistant
BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES
Jack P. Shonkoff (Chair),
Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University
David V.B. Britt,
Children's Television Workshop, New York City
Larry Bumpass,
Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin
Sheila Burke,
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
David Card,
Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Kevin Grumbach,
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Maxine Hayes,
Community and Family Health, Department of Health, Olympia, Washington
Margaret Heagarty,
Department of Pediatrics, Harlem Hospital Center, Columbia University
Aletha C. Huston,
Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin
Renée Jenkins,
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Howard University Hospital
Sheila Kamerman,
School of Social Work, Columbia University
Sanders Korenman,
School of Public Affairs, Baruch College
Honorable Cindy Lederman,
Circuit Court Judge, Juvenile Division, Dade County, Florida
Sara McLanahan,
Office of Population Research, Princeton University
Vonnie McLoyd,
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
Paul Newacheck,
Institute of Health Policy Studies and Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco
Deborah Stipek,
Graduate School of Education, University of California, Los Angeles
Paul Wise,
Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center
Evan Charney (Liaison),
Council Member, Institute of Medicine
Ruth T. Gross (Liaison),
Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine
Eleanor Maccoby (Liaison),
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Acknowledgments
The authors of the papers presented in this volume are to be commended for their intellectual contributions and their diligence in completing this enormously valuable set of studies, which together constitute a major contribution to the knowledge base about contemporary children in immigrant families. These commissioned papers were essential to informing the work of the Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, which was established in 1996 by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families of the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine. In 1998 the committee released the report From Generation to Generation: The Health and Welt-Being of Children in Immigrant Families, which contains its main findings and conclusions. This companion volume contains the detailed background papers that the committee commissioned along the way.
The papers in this volume have been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published volume as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets institutional standards. The re-
view comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report: Kathleen Gainor Andreoli (Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center), E. Richard Brown (University of California, Los Angeles), Larry Bumpass (University of Wisconsin), Evan Charney (University of Massachusetts Medical Center), Donald J. Cohen (Yale University), Janet Currie (University of California, Los Angeles), David L. Featherman (University of Michigan), Michael Fix (The Urban Institute), Fernando Guerra (San Antonio Public Health District), Bill Ong Hing (University of California, Davis), Arthur Kleinman (Harvard University), Alan Kraut (American University), Nancy S. Landale (Pennsylvania State University), Antonio McDaniel (University of Pennsylvania), Fernando S. Mendoza (Stanford University), Victor Nee (Cornell University), Mary L. de Leon Siantz (University of Washington), David R. Smith (Texas Tech University), Alex Stepick (Florida International University), and Sylvia Fernandez Villarreal (San Francisco General Hospital). Although these individuals provided constructive comments and suggestions, it must be emphasized that responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
We also wish to thank Deborah Phillips, director of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, for conceiving the need and obtaining funding for this study and for contributing her intellectual insights throughout the course of the project. Our thanks also go to Barbara Torrey, executive director of CBASSE, for her guidance and encouragement; Faith Mitchell for her important managerial support; Karen Autrey and Ronné Wingate for outstanding administrative support; Katherine Darke and Nancy Geyelin Margie for research assistance; and Barbara Bodling for editorial review.
Financial support was provided by the Public Health Service, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (OASPE), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Our project officers were especially helpful; David Nielsen of OASPE and Rose Li of NICHD provided guid-
ance and technical support and contributed to the development of ideas for the research. Support was also provided by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education of the U.S. Department of Education, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the California Wellness Foundation.
The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, with the leadership of its director, David L. Featherman, provided necessary resources to conduct new data analyses. The Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan provided access to computing facilities and to census data that were essential, and Lisa Neidert of the Population Studies Center provided invaluable technical assistance.
It was a pleasure working with the many people who contributed to the creation and publication of this volume.
Evan Charney, Chair
Donald J. Hernandez, Study Director
Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Contents
Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance |
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Socioeconomic and Demographic Risk Factors and Resources Among Children in Immigrant and Native-Born Families: 1910, 1960, and 1990 |
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Access to Health Insurance and Health Care for Children in Immigrant Families |
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The Health and Nutritional Status of Immigrant Hispanic Children: Analyses of the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey |
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Immigration and Infant Health: Birth Outcomes of Immigrant and Native-Born Women |
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The Health Status and Risk Behaviors of Adolescents in Immigrant Families |