Associations of intergenerational education with metabolic health in US L atinos

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the association of intergenerational education and country of birth with waist circumference, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes among older adult Latinos in the United States. Methods We used cross‐sectional data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging, a cohort of older adult Mexican‐American Latinos (mean age = 70 years). At baseline, we measured waist circumference and assessed metabolic syndrome and diabetes according to established guidelines ( N = 1,789). Participants were classified as US‐born or foreign‐born based on self‐reported birth country. Participants reported their parents' education level (≥6 vs. <6 years) and their own educational attainment (≥12 vs. <12 years). Results US‐born participants who achieved high adult education, regardless of their parents' education, had 37% lower odds of type 2 diabetes compared to US‐born participants with both low parental and personal education levels [e.g., multivariable‐adjusted OR (parental low/adult high) = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.40, 0.99]. Among the foreign‐born, only those with both high parental and high personal education levels had 55% lower odds of large waist circumference (OR = 0.45; 95% CI = 0.23, 0.88) compared to foreign‐born participants with both low parental and personal education levels. Conclusions Intergenerational exposure to low education levels may increase central obesity and type 2 diabetes differentially among US‐born and foreign‐born Latinos.