Background:

The migratory flows have caused the migrant population to become an important collective of the Spanish social reality, being necessary to know their situation to favor their integration, both in the social and school environment. With this purpose, the differences between a population of migrant and native adolescents from a region of northern Spain were analyzed from an integral perspective of health, evaluating different indicators of physical, psychological and social health.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study was applied to a sample of 761 schoolchildren, distributed in 618 native (14.49 ± 1.62 years) and 143 migrants (14.55 ± 1.66 years). A descriptive, comparative and correlational analysis was performed of the data obtained from the variables of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, level of physical activity, health-related quality of life, self-esteem, body image satisfaction, hours of nighttime sleep, index body mass, maximum oxygen consumption, academic performance and socioeconomic status.

Results:

Migrant students presented significantly lower values in socioeconomic status (p<0.001), academic performance (p<0.001), self-esteem (p<0.05), level of physical activity (p<0.05), aerobic capacity (p<0.05), adherence to the Mediterranean diet (p<0.05) and body satisfaction (p<0.05). Regarding the quality of life related to health, differences were reported in the global (p<0.001) and in all the dimensions analyzed except in satisfaction with the educational environment. In addition, exclusively in the case of migrants, the socioeconomic status was associated with social support (r=0.256), academic performance (r=0.261) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (r=0.166).

Conclusions:

The results obtained highlight the relevant role that the school context plays as a health and integration promoter in migrant students. It is necessary to implement strategies that promote access to physical practice and healthy food with the objective of promoting the improvement of community health and, especially, of the most vulnerable groups.

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