Places of Habits and Hearts: Church Attendance and Latino Immigrant Health Behaviors in the United States

Introduction: In general, church attendance can be associated with improved health behaviors and fewer related chronic diseases, suggesting a potential opportunity to counteract worsening health behaviors among some immigrants and thereby reduce health disparities. There is a paucity of research, however, on the relationship between religious involvement and immigrants’ health behaviors and whether it varies by host or home country context. Aim: To examine the relationship between religious involvement, measured by church attendance, with health behaviors among Latino immigrants in the United States (U.S.) and to compare the relationship of home and host country attendance with these behaviors. Methods: Data from the randomized New Immigrant Survey, including over 1200 immigrants to the U.S. from Mexico and Central America, were analyzed. Health measures included smoking, binge drinking, physical activity, and obesity. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using measures of church attendance and ethnic/immigrant characteristics as well as other demographic and health care factors. Separate models were constructed for each behavior. Results: An association was found between U.S. church attendance and less smoking, less drinking, and greater physical activity but not with obesity. Threshold effects were found. However, almost no associations were found between health behaviors and home country church attendance. Conclusion: The context in which people live warrants increased attention for successful health promotion initiatives for immigrant populations. The social, psychological, and religious resources in immigrant communities can be leveraged to potentially counteract worsening of chronic disease-related health behaviors of Latino immigrants in the U.S., thereby reducing health disparities.