To examine whether the association between women’s origin and early pregnancy overweight and obesity (OW/OB) varies by length of residence in Sweden.

This cross-sectional observational study used pooled Swedish population register data from 1992 to 2012. Logistic regression models were run to estimate odds ratios (OR) of early pregnancy OW/OB and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI), comparing Swedish-born and immigrants by length-of-residence categories while adjusting for covariates.

Sweden.

In total, 1 771 821 pregnant women, 315 992 of whom were immigrants.

With longer residence in Sweden, more immigrant women from various origins exhibited higher odds of experiencing early OW/OB compared with Swedish-born women. Findings specifically showed increased odds of early pregnancy OW/OB with increasing length of residence for women born in Latin America, Europe-27 and Southeast Asia. For example, immigrant women from Latin America residing in Sweden for < 6 years showed similar odds as Swedish-born (OR≤ 5 years 0·92, 95 % CI 0·87, 0·98), while their longer residing counterparts showed higher odds than Swedish-born women (OR6–15 years1·21, 95 % CI 1·14, 1·28 and OR≥ 16 years 1·68, 95 % CI 1·59, 1·78). Mixed results were found for other origins.

The current study suggests that host country conditions might play an important role in explaining OW/OB among some groups of immigrant women. Although further studies are needed to disentangle the mechanisms that generate these health inequalities, policy efforts should focus on immigrant reception and early integration to prevent pregnancy-related OW/OB.

Migrants tend to present higher overweight and obesity levels, but whether this relationship applies to all nationalities has seldom been studied. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity according to nationality in adults.

Cross-sectional population-based samples.

Five-year nationwide interview surveys (Swiss Health Surveys – SHS) from 1992 to 2007 (n 63 766) and a local examination survey (CoLaus Study in Lausanne 2004–2006, n 6743).

Participants were separated into Swiss, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish nationals, those from the former Republic of Yugoslavia and from other European and other countries.

Compared with Swiss nationals, German and French nationals presented a lower prevalence of overweight and obesity, whereas nationals from Italy, Spain, Portugal and the former Republic of Yugoslavia presented higher levels. Adjusting the SHS data for age, gender, education, smoking, leisure-time physical activity and survey year, a lower risk for overweight and obesity was found for German (OR = 0·80, 95 % CI 0·70, 0·92) and French (OR = 0·74, 95 % CI 0·61, 0·89) nationals, whereas higher risks were found for participants from Italy (OR = 1·45, 95 % CI 1·33, 1·58), Spain (OR = 1·36, 95 % CI 1·15, 1·61), Portugal (OR = 1·25, 95 % CI 1·06, 1·47) and the former Republic of Yugoslavia (OR = 1·98, 95 % CI 1·69, 2·32). Similar findings were observed in the CoLaus Study for Italian (OR = 1·63, 95 % CI 1·29, 2·06), Spanish (OR = 1·54, 95 % CI 1·17, 2·04) and Portuguese (OR = 1·49, 95 % CI 1·16, 1·91) participants and for those from the former Republic of Yugoslavia (OR = 5·34, 95 % CI 3·00, 9·50).

Overweight and obesity are unevenly distributed among migrants in Switzerland. Migrants from Southern Europe and from the former Republic of Yugoslavia present higher prevalence rates. This suggests that preventive messages should be tailored to these specific populations.

Various studies in the USA and Canada have consistently shown a positive association between length of residence of immigrants and obesity. Studies in European countries have obtained less consistent results. The present work assesses the influence of length of residence on the frequency of obesity in immigrants in the city of Madrid, Spain.

We studied a sample of 7155 persons aged 18 years and over residing in the city of Madrid, who were was surveyed between November 2004 and May 2005. Information was collected on immigrant status (country of birth), length of residence in Spain, obesity, sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle.

Compared with the Spanish population, the odds for obesity in the immigrant population by length of residence was less than one in all groups, becoming closer to one with increasing time of residence (OR = 0·67, 0·73 and 0·81 for immigrants with less than 2, 2–4 and 5–9 years of residence in Spain, respectively), up to 10 or more years of residence, when it declined (OR = 0·69). The magnitude of this association was considerably reduced after adjusting for sociodemographic variables and for perceived health, but was not further modified after adjusting for lifestyle variables.

Length of residence of immigrants in the city of Madrid is not associated with the frequency of obesity. It is possible that the circumstances immigrants encounter after arriving in Spain do not involve an overexposure to factors favouring obesity, relative to those they bring with them.

To estimate associations between the length of residence and overweight among US immigrants by region of birth and age at arrival.

Cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey 1997–2005 were pooled. Multivariate-adjusted prevalence and OR were computed to test associations of length of residence and overweight.

United States.

Immigrant adults aged 18–74 years.

The odds of being overweight were three times higher in migrants from Mexico, South America, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East residing in the US for >15 years than their counterparts residing in the United States for <5 years. On the other hand, migrants from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast (SE) Asia had no association between the length of residence and overweight prevalence. Among both men and women, weight differences emerged as early as 5 years after arrival among those arriving at 18–24 years of age (OR 1·5–1·8). The odds of being overweight was higher among Hispanic men arriving before the age of 18 years than the European migrants (Mexico OR 1·7, 95 % CI 1·3, 2·2; South America OR 1·5, 95 % CI 1·0, 2·3), whereas the odds of being overweight among those from Africa and SE Asia was lower (OR 0·5, 95 % CI 0·3, 0·9 and OR 0·5, 95 % CI 0·4, 0·8, respectively). Among women who arrived at 25–44 years of age, the odds of being overweight among those from Africa and the Indian subcontinent was higher than the European migrants (OR 2·9, 95 % CI 1·7, 5·0 and OR 1·8, 95 % CI 1·8, 2·8, respectively).

We found associations between the length of residence and overweight to vary by region of birth and age at arrival, highlighting the importance of these characteristics in assessing overweight risk among the US immigrants.

To study how dietary patterns and physical activity vary with acculturation and with past and current exposure to socio-cultural norms of the home country among Tunisian migrants.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using quota sampling (n 150) based on age and residence. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated FFQ. Physical activity level and dietary aspects were compared according to length of residence (acculturation), age at migration (past exposure) and social ties with the home country (current exposure).

Tunisian migrant men residing in the South of France.

Migrants who had lived in France for more than 9 years had a higher percentage contribution of meat to energy intake (P = 0·04), a higher Na intake (P = 0·04), a lower percentage contribution of sugar and sweets (P = 0·04) and a lower percentage of carbohydrates (P = 0·03) than short-term migrants. Men who migrated before 21 years of age had a higher Na intake than ‘late’ migrants (P = 0·02). Men who had distant social ties with Tunisia had a lower physical activity level (P = 0·01) whereas men who had close ties had a higher percentage of fat (P = 0·01) and a higher ratio of MUFA to SFA (P = 0·02).

Acculturation led to a convergence of some characteristics to those of the host population, while some results (meat and salt consumption) were at variance with other acculturation studies. Past and current exposure to the home country helped maintain some positive aspects of the diet. Nevertheless, present dietary changes in Tunisia could soon lessen these features.