We used data from the 1998–2009 waves of the National Health Interview Survey to
investigate cohort differences in low birthweight among US-born children of
mothers arriving in the United States between 1955 and 2009, cohort-adjusted
patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of residence in the United
States, and cohort-adjusted patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of
US residence stratified by age at arrival and region of origin. We found a
consistent deterioration in infant health with successive immigrant cohorts and
heterogeneous effects of cohort-adjusted duration in the United States by age at
arrival and region. Most notably, we found evidence that maternal health (as
proxied by low birthweight) deteriorates with duration in the United States only
for immigrant mothers who came to the United States as children. For mothers who
arrived as adults, we found no evidence of deterioration. The findings
underscore the importance of considering age at arrival and place of origin when
studying post-migration health trajectories and provide indirect evidence that
early life exposures are a key to understanding why the United States lags other
developed nations in health.
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