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.