Date of Award
2026-05-01
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Teaching, Learning and Culture
Advisor(s)
Mourat A. Tchoshanov
Abstract
Health disparities among low-income Hispanic immigrants in the United States are shaped by complex interactions between acculturation, structural inequality, and socio-cultural determinants that behavioral and epidemiological models have not fully explained. This dissertation examines the relationship between acculturation and obesity-related outcomes among uninsured and low-income Hispanic adults of Mexican descent in El Paso, Texas, using a three-article, sequential, explanatory, mixed-methods design grounded in Latina/o Critical Race Theory (LatCrit).Article 1 presents a systematic review of 20 peer-reviewed studies examining acculturation and obesity among Mexican Americans, finding consistent evidence that longer U.S. residence is associated with increased BMI and obesity prevalence, mediated by dietary change, reduced physical activity, and acculturative stress. Article 2 reports a quantitative cross-sectional analysis of 860 low-income Hispanic immigrants, finding that years of U.S. residence were positively associated with higher BMI and waist circumference, while years of residence specifically in El Paso showed a modest inverse association, and educational attainment emerged as the strongest consistent protective factor. Article 3 presents qualitative thematic analysis of 17 semi-structured Spanish-language interviews, producing six themes: the cultural normalization of body weight as psychological protection; the structural production of dietary acculturation; transborder healthcare-seeking in Ciudad Juárez as a survival response to systemic exclusion; acculturative and chronic stress as physiological determinants of cardiometabolic risk; cultural resilience as structural resistance; and the familial normalization of diabetes alongside the invisibility of obesity as a health category. Integrated findings showcase that obesity in this population is not a product of individual choices or cultural deficits but a structurally produced phenomenon.
Language
en
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Copyright Date
2026-05
File Size
171 p.
File Format
application/pdf
Rights Holder
Karen Del Rio
Recommended Citation
Del Rio, Karen, "Health Disparities In El Paso's Low-Income Hispanic Communities: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Acculturation, Obesity Metrics, And Socio-Cultural Determinants" (2026). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 4660.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4660