The health of immigrant children who live in areas with high immigrant concentration

ABSTRACT

Objectives. Our objective is to contribute to the literature regarding the association between immigrant children's health, their ethnicity and their living in neighbourhoods with a high ethnic concentration of one's own ethnicity. Using data from families from five ethnic groups who all immigrated to Vancouver metropolitan region in Canada, our research question asks: How ethnicity, ethnic concentration and living in a neighbourhood with others of the same ethnic background contribute to the health of immigrant children?

Design. Two data sets are integrated in our study. The first is the New Canadian Children and Youth Study, which collected original data from five ethnic groups who immigrated to metropolitan Vancouver. The second data set, from which we derived neighbourhood data, is the Canadian census. The dependent variable is health status as reported by the parent. Independent variables are at both the individual and neighbourhood levels, including ethnicity, sex and the percentage of people living in the neighbourhood of the same ethnic background. Analysis was completed using hierarchical linear modelling.

Results. Children (n = 759) from 24 neighbourhoods were included in the analyses. Health status varied by ethnicity and ethnic concentration, indicating the heterogeneity of immigrant populations.

Conclusion. With the lack of research on the health of immigrant children and youth living in ethnic concentrations, our findings make an important contribution to understanding the influences on the well-being of immigrant populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Health
• immigrant children
• Canada
• ethnic concentration
• ethnic density
• immigrants
• ethnic groups

Acknowledgements

This paper is a product of the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (Morton Beiser, Principal Investigator; Robert Armstrong, Linda Ogilvie, Jacqueline Oxman-Martinez, Site P.I.s), a national longitudinal survey of the health and well-being of more than 4000 newcomer immigrant and refugee children living in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. The NCCYS is a collaboration between a large team of more than 25 investigators, 2 national coordinators, other research staff, community advisors, and students affiliated with four Canadian Metropolis Centres of Excellence for research on immigration and settlement, and community organizations representing 17 different immigrant/refugee populations across Canada.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Key messages

(1) New data is being presented on the health and well-being of immigrant children, who are under-studied although there are sizable populations of immigrant children throughout western countries.

(2) In spite of immigrant families settling in the same large urban centre and thereby experiencing similar opportunities and challenges, their children's health differs according to their country or area of origin.

(3) Neighborhood ethnic composition is important when considering the health of immigrants, even though the proportion of immigrants in the neighbourhood is in the minority.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Canadian Institutes for Heath Research [CIHR grant numbers FRN-43927 and PRG-80146]. Site specific funding is provided by: the federal departments of Canadian Heritage; Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Health Canada; Justice Canada; Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research; B.C. Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security; B.C. Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration; Conseil Quebecois de la Recherche Sociale; OASIS (CIC) and the Vancouver, Montreal, Prairies, and Toronto Metropolis Centres of Excellence for research on immigration and settlement.