*1.2. Health Behaviors in Latinxs*

Past research on health behaviors among Latinxs has yielded mixed results. For instance, while some studies using self-reported data have found that fewer Hispanics/Latinos engage in less physical activity than non-Hispanic Whites [19,20], studies using objectively measured data indicate that Hispanics/Latinos engage in higher physical activity levels than non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites [21,22]. Similarly, some studies indicate that Hispanics have better-quality diets than non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites [23,24], while others find the opposite [19,25]. Moreover, although previous studies have found that smoking is not as prevalent among Hispanics/Latinos as it is among other racial/ethnic groups [7,26,27], these studies have focused primarily on Hispanics/Latinos of Mexican descent e.g., [7]. These differences may be explained by variations in diet, physical activity levels, and smoking rates between Latinx subgroups. Indeed, evidence from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) has revealed differences in diet quality [28], physical activity [29], and smoking [18] across Hispanic/Latino subgroups; thus, research on specific Latinx subgroups is warranted. In addition, it is imperative to examine the specific clustering of health behaviors, as certain combinations appear to be related to different health conditions. One study among ethnically diverse adults, for example, reported that not eating a healthy diet along with not doing vigorous physical activity was associated with an increased risk for hypertension, whereas not eating a healthy diet alone was a stronger predictor of diabetes [30].

Despite the high prevalence of health risk behaviors in Latinxs, especially men, very few studies have examined risk behavior clustering in this population. Moreover, clustering patterns may differ across ethnic and sex groups, and this may provide insight into the development of more effective health behavior interventions. To this end, the overall objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and clustering of three important health behaviors (smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, and physical activity) among Mexican and Puerto Rican men. We also examined whether these associations varied by Latino background.
