Browse > Article

Health Behaviors and Related Factors among Asian Immigrant Women in Korea by Ethnicity  

Yang, Sook-Ja (Division of Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, Ewha Womans University)
Publication Information
Research in Community and Public Health Nursing / v.22, no.1, 2011 , pp. 66-74 More about this Journal
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet and to identify sociodemographic factors related with health behaviors among Asian immigrant women in Korea by ethnicity. Methods: A cross-sectional study using structured questionnaires was conducted in 396 immigrant women from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines to Korea through international marriage. The associations between health behaviors and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: The prevalence of current smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and abnormal diet were 4.2%, 7.6%, 49.3%, and 31.9%, respectively. The prevalence of current smoking (7.6%) and physical inactivity (56.7%) was highest in Chinese immigrant women. However, the prevalence of current smoking (2.7%) and alcohol consumption (3.8%) were lowest in Vietnamese immigrant women. Immigrant women who had been living in Korea for a long time since immigration (${\geq}$ 5 years) had a higher prevalence of alcohol consumption compared to those of who had been living in Korea for a short time since immigration (< 5 years) (OR=2.95, 95% CI=1.74-5.01). Conclusion: Health promotion programs for immigrant women should be differentiated based on health behaviors and their related factors by ethnicity.
Keywords
Immigrants; Smoking; Alcohol consumption; Physical activity; Diet;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 4  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Kim, S. K., Kim, Y. K., Cho, A. J., Kim, H. R., Lee, H. K., & Surl, D. H. (2010). Study on current status of multicultural families. Seoul: Korea Ministry of Health & Welfare, Korea Ministry of Gender Equality & Family, Korea Ministry of Justice, & Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
2 Kim, M. J., Kim, T. I., & Kwon, Y. J. (2008). A study on health promotion behavior and contraception in married immigrant women. Korean Journal of Health Nursing, 14 (4), 323-332.   DOI
3 Kim, O. N. (2007). Mental health of immigrant women in rural communities: Focusing on acculturative stress and social support. Korean Journal of Family Welfare, 12 (3), 47-73.
4 Bolen, J. C., Rhodes, L., Powell-Griner, E. E., Bland, S. D., & Holtzman, D. (2000). State-specific prevalence of selected health behaviors, by race and ethnicity: Behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 1997. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries, 49 (2), 1-60.
5 Chen, J., Ng, E., & Wilkins, R. (1996). The health of Canada's immigrants in 1994-1995. Health Reports, 7 (4), 33-45.
6 Newbold, K. B., & Danforth, J. (2003). Health status and Canada's immigrant population. Social Science Medicine, 57 (10), 1981-1995.   DOI   ScienceOn
7 World Health Organization (2004). Global status report on alcohol 2004. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/en/philip pines.pdf
8 Statistics Korea (2010). International marriage status in Korea. Retrieved January 3, 2011, from http://kostat.go.kr/wn search/search.jsp
9 Stephen, E., Foote, K., Hendershot, G., & Schoenborn, C. (1994). Health of the foreign-born population. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, 241, 1-10.
10 World Health Organization (2003). Tobacco control country profiles. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://www. wpro.who.int/internet/resources.ashx/TFI/TCCP2.pdf
11 McDonald, J. T., & Kennedy, S. (2004). Insights into the 'healthy immigrant effect': Health status and health service use of immigrants to Canada. Social Science Medicine, 59 (8), 1613-1627.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Misra, R., Patel, T. G., Davies, D., & Russo, T. (2000). Health promotion behaviors of Gujurati Asian Indian immigrants in the United States. Journal of Immigrant Health, 2 (4), 223-230.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 Mohan, V. (2004). Why are Indians more prone to diabetes? The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, 52, 468-474.
14 Lara, M., Gamboa, C., Kahramanian, M. I., Morales, L. S., & Bautista, D. E. (2005). Acculturation and Latino health in the United States: A review of the literature and its sociopolitical context. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 367-397.   DOI   ScienceOn
15 Korea International Labour Foundation (2008). Labour news: Report on immigrants and labourers. Retrieved January 14, 2011, from http://www.koilaf.org/KFkor_new/kor News/bbs_read_dis.php?board_no=4772&page=3&keyField=&keyWord=&keyCode1=B&keyNation
16 Kim, W. Y., Cho, M. S., & Lee, H. S. (2003). Development and validation of mini dietary assessment index for Koreans. The Korean Nutrition Society, 36 (1), 83-92.
17 Hyman, I., Fenta, H., & Noh, S. (2008). Gender and the smoking behaviour of Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto. Chronic Disease in Canada, 28 (4), 121-127.
18 Allamani, A., Innocenti, F. B., Innocenti, A., Cipriani, F., & Voller, F. (2009). Alcohol and tobacco consumption among Albanian immigrants in Florence. Substance Use & Misuse, 44, 282-300.   DOI   ScienceOn
19 Balluz, L. S., Okoro, C. A., & Nokdad, A. (2008). Association between selected unhealthy lifestyle factors, body mass index, and chronic health conditions among individuals 50 years of age or older by race/ethnicity. Ethnicity and Disease, 18 (4), 450-457.
20 Nierkens, V., de Vries, H., & Stronks, K. (2006). Smoking in immigrants: Do socioeconomic gradients follow the pattern expected from the tobacco epidemic? Tobacco Control, 15, 385-391.   DOI   ScienceOn
21 Ahn, Y. H. (2008). Health status and health behavior of immigrant women married to Koreans. Journal of Korean Academy of Public Health Nursing, 22 (1), 18-25.
22 Lin, L. H., & Hung, C. H. (2007). Vietnamese women immigrants' life adaptation, social support and depression. Journal of Nursing Research, 15 (4), 243-253.   DOI   ScienceOn
23 Korea Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, & Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2009). 2007 Korea national health and nutrition examination survey statistics: The 4th Korea national health and nutrition examination survey. Seoul: Author.
24 Korea Immigration Service (2010). Asian immigrant women's residence status by nationality in Korea. Retrieved January 3, 2011, from http://www.moj.go.kr/HP/TIMM/imm_06/imm_2010_09.jsp
25 Kim, S. H., Kim, W. Y., Lyu, J. E., Chung, H. W., & Hwang, R. Y. (2009). Dietary intakes and eating behaviors of Vietamese female immigrants to Korea through marriage and Korean spouses and correlations of their diets. Korean Journal of Community Nutrition, 14 (1), 22-30.
26 Kim, H. R., Hwang, N. M., Jang, I. S., Yoon, K. J., & Kang, B. J. (2008). Status and policy of reproductive health of marital immigrant women in Korea. Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
27 Dogra, S., Meisner, B. A., & Ardern, C. I. (2010). Variation in mode of physical activity by ethnicity and time since immigration: A cross-sectional analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7 (75), 1-11.