Author: Scribner, Richard
Date Published: 1996
The paradox of Hispanic health has its origin in Mexican immigration to the U.S.. Mexican Americans are the 2nd largest ethnic group in the southwest, yet 50% were born in Mexico. Thus recent Mexican immigration to the U.S. had resulted in a Mexican American population with strong cultural ties to Mexico. In addition, Mexican Americans tend to be poorer, less educated, and medically underserved compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Despite these presumed socioeconomic risks, Mexican Americans are astonishingly healthy. This is a paradox of profound importance. Historically, biomedicine has explained the increased risk associated with ethnicity either in terms of genetic differences related to race or factors directly related to socioeconomic status. However, the health outcomes of Mexican Americans are contrary to these individual-level models of risk.