Are Remitters at Risk for Lower Food Security and Dietary Quality? An Exploratory Study of Mexican Immigrants in NYC

Remittances confirm an immigrant’s continued social membership in their country of origin and they have been associated with improved nutritional outcomes among those who receive them. Yet, the relationship between remittances and nutrition outcomes of remitters is not well understood. We use data from 81 Mexican immigrants living in the Bronx, New York City (“NYC”), collected in 2019 to examine the relationship among remittances, gender, food security and dietary quality. After controlling for sociodemographic and immigration-related factors, we did not find a statistically significant (p<0.1) relationship between sending remittances and food insecurity; however, we did find that women remitters had higher odds than men remitters of having low dietary quality (p<0.064). We also found that a higher Body Mass Index (“BMI”) was associated with higher odds of experiencing low and very low food security (p<0.068). Further research with nationally representative data is needed to investigate the full extent of association between remittances and nutritional outcomes of remitters. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study was supported by a grant to Dr. Florez (R21DK114630) from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of NIH/NIDDK. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: All procedures are subjected to full review by the CUNY SPH Institutional Review Board, and all protocols were approved (protocol number 2018-1081). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors