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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Immigrant children in the U.S. may be less likely to join their local football or tennis teams than those born in America.
This new research comes at a time when physical activity has been especially encouraged as a way to prevent disease and improve health. Over the past 20 years, rates of childhood obesity and diabetes mellitus have risen dramatically.
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The study revealed 22.5 percent of immigrant Hispanic children were not physically active compared to 9.5 percent of white children born in the United States to native parents; however, while they were less likely to play a sport and exercise, they watched television less on average.
Immigrants currently account for 12.6 percent of the nation's population. "It is important to know how patterns of physical activity, inactivity and sedentary behaviors for this increasing segment of the population differ from those of the majority native population," study authors wrote.
The authors say this disparity will likely contribute to a disadvantage in immigrant health as they reach adulthood. "To reduce disparities in childhood physical activity, health education programs designed to promote physical activity should target not only children from socially disadvantaged households and neighborhoods but also children in immigrant families."
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2008;162:756-763
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