Foreign-born New Yorkers are healthier than their American-born neighbors, a study released yesterday by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found.

The results reflected a national phenomenon, with foreign-born populations tending to be healthier than those born in America or Canada. This study was the first to focus on New York. It is being used by the Department of Health in an attempt to best address the diverse health needs in New York City.

It found that, on the whole, foreignborn New Yorkers are less likely to be at risk for some of New York’s leading causes of death and are less likely to participate in unhealthy activities such as smoking, binge drinking, and overeating. It also said the same residents have a harder time getting access to health care.

“Immigrants really do appear to be healthier than U.S.-born on a lot of fronts,” the assistant commissioner for epidemiology services at the Department of Health, Bonnie Kerker, said.

The data showed that between 2001 and 2003 there were 1,073 deaths per every 100,000 U.S.-born residents but only 768 for foreign-born residents. While cancer was the second-leading cause of death in both groups — after heart disease — the cancer death rate is 40% lower in foreign-born New Yorkers.

The results vary between subgroups. While only 13% of foreign-born New Yorkers smoke cigarettes, compared with 23% of those born in America, the figures are higher within specific immigrant groups. For example, 24% of Chinese-born New Yorkers smoke, as do 31% of those born in Russia, the study found.

The figures prompted the Department of Health to create smoking-cessation campaigns targeting New York’s Russian and Chinese populations, with information printed in the respective languages and figures of cultural significance — such as a Russian boxer — being used to reinforce the message.

When the ability to access health care is assessed, the trends are reversed, and it is foreign-born residents who are worse off. Whereas only 9% of American-born New Yorkers under 65 are uninsured, 22% of foreign-born New Yorkers in the same age group are uninsured, with 44% of those born in Mexico lacking health insurance.

While Ms. Kerker noted that access to care becomes easier the longer a foreign-born New Yorker is in the city, the data suggested that the risk for obesity increases with the length of residence in America. “Some aspects of their health actually might decrease or worsen … our environment here might actually have something to do with individuals’ health over time,” she said.

Ms.Kerker said the department would use the information in the study to create appropriate health education and information programs in addition to helping “facilitate the connections between immigrants and different resources that would help them access care.”