The number of Latino immigrant children is expanding rapidly, and the factors that affect their health are multiple and interlinked. We therefore propose to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of a mostly Dominican immigrant population, to examine to what extent immigrant status and other factors play a role in determining measures of their children's health and well-being, and finally to investigate whether a home visiting intervention modified any of these factors. The data were collected as part of an evaluation of a primary prevention home visitation program for high-risk mothers and their children. Bivariate and multivariate models were constructed to investigate the factors that affected the outcome variables. We found that numerous factors, especially a composite for overall stress, affected the health and well-being of participant children. We also demonstrated that the visitation program had a positive effect on many of these outcomes. Future program planners will need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the specific population they serve. 1. Introduction Between 1990 and 1997 the number of children in immigrant families grew by 47 percent, while the number of US-born children grew by only 7 percent. [1]. The number of immigrants is continuing to rise. Between 2000 and 2007, 10.3 million immigrants arrived in the USA, the highest seven-year period of immigration in USA history [2]. By 2050, 25% of the US population will be post-1994 immigrants [3]. Latinos represent the fastest growing immigrant population and are the largest minority group in the USA, comprising some 44 million individuals [4]. Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that the factors that affect the health of immigrant children, and in particular of Latino immigrant children, are and will be an area of importance in the coming years. Research on immigrants and Latinos, in particular, has not kept pace with the increasing numbers [5]. Further complicating existing research is the fact that many studies pool Latinos together as one group. This makes the interpretation of results from such studies difficult. Also, there is an increasing recognition that mental health and physical illness are contextually based and culturally embedded and that these factors must be accounted for when studying immigrant groups [6]. Some factors affecting the health of immigrant children have been recognized for decades. One phenomenon is the often described epidemiologic paradox in which infants born to immigrant mothers have better birth outcomes, including fewer preterm
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