Compared to their peers with non-Hispanic white mothers, children of Mexican-heritage mothers have higher average BMI and greater rates of obesity. The BMI of boys with Mexican-born mothers is higher relative to whites and children of U.S.-born Mexican mothers across early childhood, increasing sharply at about age 4.5 years. This divergence is driven by increases in the BMI of boys, as girls do not show the same growth.

While research shows growing up in urban neighborhoods increases the likelihood of not completing high school, it remains unclear what mechanism facilitates this process and why some youth are more vulnerable than others. This study addresses this gap by drawing on interviews with male, Latino high school graduates and noncompleters in Los Angeles. Interviews reveal urban violence is the most salient feature of urban neighborhoods and consequential for school completion. In an effort to avoid victimization male youth exposed to urban violence draw on male peer ties for protection.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers face many health risks with limited access to health care and promotion services. This study explored whether fear of deportation (as a barrier), and church attendance (as an enabling factor), were associated with medical and dental care use among Mexican-origin farmworkers. Interviews were conducted with 179 farmworkers who attended mobile services provided by a local federally-qualified health center (FQHC) in partnership with area churches, during the 2007 agricultural season.

The significant growth of the Latino population in the midst of an economic recession has invigorated anti-Latino, anti-immigrant sentiments in many US states. One common misconception is that Latino immigrants are a burden to safety net services. This may be particularly true in nontraditional immigrant states that have not historically served Latino immigrants. Oregon data suggest that despite a higher prevalence of poverty, use of safety net services among Latino immigrants in Oregon is lower than that among non-Latino Whites.

Explanations of Americans’ attitudes toward immigration emphasize threats to national identity and culture. However, we do not know the specific sources of cultural threat or whether theyoperate locally. Native-born residents commonly voice concerns about the prevalence of Spanish, suggesting that foreign languages might be one such source of threat. This articleuses survey experiments to provide one of the first causal tests of the impact of written Spanish on Americans’ immigration attitudes.