Rachel Han
Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in the Humanities
2006—2007 Forum on Travel
Rachel Han
Economics, Health and Societies
College '08
The Effect of Immigration on the Health of the Diabetic Chinese and Malay Population
How does travel, specifically immigration, affect the epidemiology of chronic disease? For Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrants, an unusually high rate of diabetes is puzzling, given the group’s relatively low rate of obesity and other typical causes of diabetes. The unique mix of AAPI patients in a free health clinic of Philadelphia’s Chinatown (half Chinese, half Malays) is the basis for this study of how immigration affects health and lifestyle.