Photo: Ruskpp Ruskpp/Mostphotos

“Migrants' health is affected by conditions in the country of origin, the migration itself, as well as conditions in the country of destination. Lifestyle habits established before migration, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and diet and exercise, may gradually change as the migrants settle in the new country,” says Olof Östergren, researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University.

There is a difficulty in analyzing the importance of country of origin as well as that of destination, as most research data only cover one country, he says. However, in this study, the researchers follow the health of Finnish migrants in Sweden in relation to the population of both countries. Using register data from both countries, the migrants are matched against people in both Sweden and Finland of the same gender and age and who live under the same social and economic conditions.

Finnish-born men´s health is gradually improving

Olof Östergren, researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University. Photo: Department of Public Health Sciences/Stockholm University

The researchers have investigated mortality caused by alcohol, smoking and cardiovascular diseases among Finnish migrants in Sweden compared to the Finnish population and the Swedish population respectively. The results show that fewer Finnish male migrants die from these causes compared to men in Finland. Compared to migrants, the total mortality rate among Finnish men is approximately 16 percent higher whereas the group´s mortality rate is nearly 30 percent higher than that of Swedish men. However, over time the mortality risks become more similar to those of the Swedish population.

“Finnish-born men living in Sweden have gradually better health and resemble Swedish men more and more in terms of the risk of dying from causes related to alcohol and smoking as well as cardiovascular diseases,” Östergren says.

Migrants' health is affected by conditions in the country of origin, the migration itself, as well as conditions in the country of destination.

Among women the differences are smaller in general. Compare to Finnish women in Finland, the prevalence of specific health problems among Finnish women living in Sweden resemble those of Swedish women.

“Compared to Finnish-born women that reside in Finland, they run a higher risk of dying from smoking-related causes, but a lower risk of dying from alcohol-related causes. The risk of dying from smoking-related causes increase over time spent in Sweden,” Östergren says.

This should have consequences for measures aimed at migrants

Further, the study shows that the risk of Finnish migrants dying from cardiovascular diseases is somewhat higher, closer to the risk in Finland, among those who live in areas where many other Finnish-born migrants live.

“The results suggest that migrants adapt their lifestyles to the new country. This can either be good or bad for health depending on how the lifestyles look in the country of origin and the country of destination,” Östergren says.

The Finnish migrants is one of the largest migrant groups in Sweden – in 2021, roughly 120,000 Finnish-born people lived in the country. In addition, they have been here for a long time (the first Finnish migrants arrived after World War II). This provides opportunities to study long-term processes that affect migrants' health in general, Olof Östergren says.

“Studies of Finnish migrants can give an indication of which factors may prove important for other migrant groups in the future,” he says.

The fact that both country of origin and destination are found to be important for migrants' health has implications for what can be done from a public health perspective, according to Östergren.

“Health promotion measures aimed at migrants should be adapted to the diversity within the group,” he says.

Håkan Soold