Hispanics' health risks said to rise while residing in US

WASHINGTON -- Millions of Hispanics come to the United States looking for jobs and educations, but remaining in the country seems to set back their health.

The longer many Hispanics are in the United States, the more likely some are to become obese and to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. And Hispanics born in the United States have even higher rates of those illnesses, according to a new government report.

The analysis of immigrants' health by the federal Centers for Disease Control followed a report calling for more educational programs for Hispanics, who are expected to increase to nearly one-fourth of the country's population in coming years.

''Failure to close Hispanics' education and language gap risks compromising their ability to both contribute to and share in national prosperity," cautioned the study by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

Marta Tienda, a sociology professor at Princeton University and head of the panel that wrote the report, said Hispanics are scattering across the country and ''transforming their new destinations even as we evolve as a nation."

''We are in the midst of the Hispanic moment," she said at a briefing. But, she added, there are two ominous trends for Hispanics -- worsening health and increased risk of family disruption.

The immigrants report, also released yesterday, documented her health concerns.

It found that 22 percent of Hispanics who have been in the country five years or more are obese, compared with 16.1 percent who have been in the United States for less than five years.

High blood pressure climbs from 13.4 percent for newer arrivals to 19.8 percent for those in the United States longer. After more than five years, diabetes rates rise from 6.9 percent to 7.5 percent and heart disease increases from 3.5 percent to 5.4 percent.

And Hispanic immigrants are among those least likely to have health insurance.

Among Hispanics born in this country, 29.8 percent are obese, 24.5 percent report high blood pressure, 10.8 percent are diabetic, and 7.6 percent have heart disease, the report found.

Among the native US population, 22.9 percent are obese, 24.3 percent have high blood pressure, 6.1 percent are diabetic, and 7.6 percent have heart disease.

In a positive note, smoking has declined from 15.3 percent to 13.8 percent among Hispanics who have been in the country for more than five years. According to the study, 20.1 percent of US-born Hispanics smoke, compared with 24 percent of the overall population.

Hispanics are a diverse group, ranging from families who have resided in the United States since the days of the earliest Spanish colonies to the millions of recent immigrants.

This causes problems in drawing broad conclusions, said Stephen J. Trejo, an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas. For example, lack of education is a problem for many Hispanics, especially Mexicans, but Cubans have very high rates of education, he said.

The most recent estimates from the Census Bureau show 40.5 million Hispanics in a US population of 285.7 million in 2004.

The bureau estimates that immigration and natural increases are adding 1.5 million Hispanics annually, a growth rate that will make them nearly 25 percent of the population by 2050.

A question for the future, the report says, is whether being Hispanic will evolve into a symbolic identity, as has happened with other groups, such as Americans of Italian, Polish, German, and Irish descent, ''or whether it will become an enduring marker of disadvantaged minority group status."