Multiethnic Families: An Underrecognized Influence on Health Statistics

To the Editor. In Southern California, Agran et al1 found that Hispanic (mainly Mexican) children had much higher rates of serious injury requiring hospitalization than did non-Hispanic white children. To investigate possible reasons for this disparity, we designed an ethnographic study involving in-depth interviews and observations in homes in geographical areas where large numbers of such injuries had occurred. Our subjects consisted of Mexican mothers (born and educated in Mexico), Mexican American mothers (of Mexican ancestry but born and educated in the United States), and non-Hispanic US-born white mothers. We assumed that the children in these families would have the same racial and ethnic …