The Role of U.S Migration Translocality in the Epidemiological Transition in Mexico: A Look at Diabetes and Hypertension

Fernando Riosmena, University of Colorado at Boulder
Ilana Redstone Akresh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Reanne Frank, Ohio State University
Susan Green, University of Colorado at Boulder

Migrant flows are generally accompanied by extensive links between origins and destinations, deeply transforming sending areas. Previous studies have found a positive association between migration and better child health and nutrition and a positive association between migration and obesity. Both trends suggest that translocality may be accelerating the nutritional transition in sending areas. As this transition generally accompanies the broader epidemiological transition, we look into the association between migration and the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in sending areas in Mexico. We nationally-representative data with socioeconomic, anthropometric, and biomarker measures, matched to municipal-level migration intensity and marginalization measures from the Mexican Census. Preliminary findings seem to support this idea among urban residents in diabetes and men in hypertension.