Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine adherence to risk factors for chronic diseases among Mexican Americans residing along Texas / Mexico border.
Method: Data was derived from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC), a prospective cohort study of over 2600 Mexican American adults aged 18 years and older living in a large and poor city along the Texas / Mexico border. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.
Results:The sample (67.06% female) has a mean age of 48.06 ± 15.60 years, 48.81% employed, 45.66% has less than high school education, 77.57% completed the survey in Spanish, and 31.65% has some type of public or private insurance. More than 85% of the sample were either overweight (25≤BMI
Conclusions: Preventive behaviors including regular moderate to vigorous physical activity and a diet rich with fruit and vegetables are uncommon among Mexican Americans. Younger age and lower BMI were associated with meeting preventive behavior guidelines along Texas / Mexico border Mexican Americans
