Another Hispanic Paradox? Differences in Socioeconomic Gradients in Health Between Whites and Hispanics

Objectives. We assess whether the few findings to date suggesting a weak social gradient in health-related variables for Hispanics are indicative of a more widespread pattern. Methods. We use logistic models to examine education gradients in health behaviors and outcomes for white and Hispanic adults, adolescents and infants, using three data sets that represent distinct populations: the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, and the National Health Interview Survey. Results. Despite extensive research on the Hispanic paradox, a second, and probably related, paradox has gone virtually unnoticed: education is weakly related, or unrelated, to a broad range of health-related variables among Hispanics. The corresponding gradients are substantially and statistically significantly stronger in the white population Thus, in contrast to whites, Hispanics experience little, if any, improvement in health with increased education. Conclusions. This unusual pattern may arise from a combination of complex mechanisms that are related to social gradients in health in immigrant sending countries