New evidence on the effects of international migration on the risk of low birthweight in Mexico

The purpose of this article is to provide new empirical evidence linking migration of Mexican households to the USA with infant health outcomes. By using new data for Mexico, the Encuesta Nacional de la Dinamica Demografica 2006, this research focuses on the effect of migration on birth weight. Mult...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Maternal and child nutrition 2012-04, Vol.8 (2), p.185-198
Main Authors: Sunil, Thankam S., Flores, Miguel, Garcia, Ginny E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emigration and Immigration
Family Characteristics - ethnology
Family Relations - ethnology
Fetal Growth Retardation - economics
Fetal Growth Retardation - epidemiology
Fetal Growth Retardation - ethnology
Fetal Growth Retardation - prevention & control
health
Health Surveys
Humans
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Logistic Models
low birthweight
Mexico
Mexico - epidemiology
Mexico - ethnology
migration
Models, Biological
Original
remittance
Risk
Socioeconomic Factors
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:The purpose of this article is to provide new empirical evidence linking migration of Mexican households to the USA with infant health outcomes. By using new data for Mexico, the Encuesta Nacional de la Dinamica Demografica 2006, this research focuses on the effect of migration on birth weight. Multivariate logistic regression methods are used to model low birth weight (LBW) as a function of a set of proximate, intermediate and socioeconomic determinants. In analyzing the channels through which migration affects birth outcomes, the findings provide no conclusive evidence for remittances as the only mechanism associated with lowering the odds of LBW. Given the limitations of the data, the study results showed new empirical evidence explaining the significance of both financial and social remittances associated with international migration and infant health outcomes in Mexico.
ISSN:1740-8695
1740-8709
DOI:10.1111/j.1740-8709.2010.00277.x