Abstract
This mixed-methods study was completed to explore how immigrants’ integration correlates to health outcomes. In this paper integration was defined by the interaction with American-born people with American-born parents, and the health outcome measured was Body Mass Index (BMI). The hypothesis was that the integrated students would have a higher BMI, based on previous research that says that the longer an immigrant is in the United States, the higher their BMI is. These data were collected in a middle/high school where all of the students are recent immigrants and refugees. 80 students were surveyed and 6 students were interviewed. The study found that the integrated group of students (n=33) has a mean BMI 2.29 lower than the mean BMI for non-integrated students (n=47) when controlling for demographic variables. This could potentially be due to factors relating to socioeconomic status or because the students are recent immigrants, so they have not been living in the United States for a long enough time to see a substantial change in BMI. Future studies should look at new ways of defining integration, and should also emphasize more research in the beginning stages of integration in the first ten years of an immigrant’s life in the United States.