Social Justice and Health Outcomes: Poor Health and Low SES Among Native and Foreign Born Mexican Americans in an Economically Disadvantaged Border Region

This paper presents data collected along the US/Mexico border region to highlight the poor health profile exhibited by native born and Mexican immigrants in this economically disadvantaged region of the United States.   A random cluster design consisting of 132 sites yielded a total of 1237 food insecure participants reporting a high number of chronic diseases.  Individual self- reported health conditions were further validated through laboratory intakes to include blood pressure; pulse, fasting glucose, and a detailed lipid profile.

Data analysis indicated high numbers of obese and overweight participants with as many as 84% of all participants in these two categories.  Overall, laboratory results and self- reported data present a poor health profile for this population, consisting mostly of immigrants to the US (73%) with a median age of 46 years with many receiving no medical care for these conditions.  The latter is coupled with low educational achievement, low wages and lack of access to health care, exacerbated for a large number of the Mexican born who do not qualify for social programs, such as Medicaid or indigent care for health services.

The disadvantaged health profile of this population is discussed within the context of existing socio-political currents in the United States which seriously impede their incorporation to the larger society; since it is conditional upon the much broader and frictional backdrop of the present US political environment.  Concerns over social justice arise when conducting research with this population since their poor health lies at the intersection of two highly contested political and social decisions that require public consensus and political will to action in order to bring about positive change: immigration and health care.   Extensive ethnographic data will be employed to further support the social justice argument.