NEW LATINO PSA: Brothers Make ‘Promesa’ to Get Screened
Mar 9th
To all Latinos: In honor of March being colon cancer awareness month, be sure to watch this heartfelt PSA in English or Spanish about how two brothers keep a promise to stay healthy and get screened for colon cancer.
Watch it below in Spanish, and be sure to add your comment about the PSA:
Or watch it in English:
San Antonio Students Can Grow at ‘Spurs Community Garden’
Mar 8th
San Antonio area students ages 8 to 17 are invited to join a fun, high-energy workshop on gardening, eating right and physical activity in the San Antonio Food Bank’s “Spurs Community Garden.”
The course, which will be taught an experienced master gardener, runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 24, 2010, at the food bank, 5200 Old Hwy 90.
The application deadline is April 9. Space is limited. Students must be accompanied by a teacher or parent.
For information, contact Liset Leal-Vasquez at 210-451-9424 or liset.lealvasquez@healthiergeneration.org.
Study: BOUNCE Helps Latino Moms, Daughters Get Fit
Mar 2nd
Dr. Norma Olvera, a pilot researcher of the Salud America! Latino childhood obesity prevention network, which is led by the team behind Salud Today, had her research on an after-school program for Latinas selected for publication in a special supplement of the journal Obesity.
Dr. Norma Olvera
Dr. Olvera, from the University of Houston, assessed the efficacy of a family-based exploratory community study, BOUNCE (Behavior Opportunities Uniting Nutrition, Counseling, and Exercise), to increase physical fitness and activity in low-income Latino mothers and daughters. Mother-daughter pairs went through a 12-week exercise, nutrition education, and counseling intervention.
The BOUNCE intervention had a significant effect on Latina daughters’ aerobic capacity.
Both mothers and daughters reported a higher reduction of high fat food and sugary beverages and an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, compared to control-group daughters.
Roundup: Latino Pre-Birth Health, Vaccine Myths
Mar 1st
Check out these health news tidbits relating to Latinos:
Obesity prevention starts early — really, really early
Harvard University researchers writing in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics say such factors as the mother’s pre-pregnancy weight, weight gain during pregnancy and how the infant is fed are emerging as significant determinants of future risk of being overweight or obese. Moreover, when this time period becomes the focus, it becomes clear how and why minority and poor children are at much higher risk for becoming overweight or obese. Cultural traditions, such as how a baby is fed, and factors related to early child care may contribute to the problem.
L.A. Times
Latino child vaccine safety concerns persist
While the vast majority of parents believe vaccines protect their children from life-threatening illnesses, many continue to have concerns about the safety of childhood vaccines, according to a new national survey. More than half of the 1,552 parents surveyed said they have serious worries about adverse affects and overall vaccine safety, according to the findings in Pediatrics. The survey revealed a few interesting demographic tidbits: Latino parents were more likely than whites or blacks to believe that vaccines cause autism.
Baltimore Sun
News Roundup: Latino Education, Alzheimer’s & Community Service
Feb 26th
Check out these news tidbits that focus on Latino health and education:
Few states have measures for success in serving Latino kids, families
Preliminary findings indicate that states are lagging woefully behind in taking advantage of opportunities to better serve diverse student populations, particularly Latinos and English language learners (ELLs), according to a report released today by the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. The report outlines unprecedented developments in U.S. policies and federal funding that would help states improve their early childhood education programs.
NCLR
Latino outreach network gets grant to reduce risk for Alzheimer’s
A $71,000 Desert Healthcare District grant to the Alzheimer’s Association will fund a yearlong outreach into the local Latino community aimed reducing the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. About 35 percent of the district’s population is Latino, who are at higher risk for developing these types of conditions because of the higher incidences of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and related diseases.
The Desert Sun
Schools recognized for community service
Six colleges and universities have been named as Presidential Awardees in the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. At one school, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, students contributed more than one million hours of service last year in projects involving more than 150 community organizations. Projects focused on issues such as providing HIV testing and health support to individuals; and outreach to the growing Latino population.
PR Newswire
Latino News Roundup: Milk, Sex & Asthma
Feb 25th
Check out these news tidbits on Latino health:
Milk board pours out more Latino-aimed ads
The California milk processors behind the “Got Milk?” ad campaign have renewed a campaign aimed at Latinos, who traditionally have been big consumers. The campaign is called “Toma Leche,” which is Spanish for “drink milk.” The campaign launched on Spanish-language TV with a commercial describing how milk can enhance dental health. It will be followed in the spring by TV spots on how milk can promote shiny hair and strong muscles.
Modesto Bee
Are Latino teens sexual risk takers?
National surveys do show that Latino young people as a group are less likely than their non-Latino peers to use condoms and birth control and are more likely to become pregnant and have a child. But these statistics hide a much more complicated picture, said a University of Illinois researcher. For one thing, Latinos represent more than 20 different groups, they live in very different situations in the U.S., and researchers have little data to determine a cultural influence when trying to characterize sexual behavior among Latino adolescents and young adults.
Medical News Today
New Intervention Helps Latino Parents Of Asthmatic Children Quit Smoking
Clinically-based smoking cessation programs may not be enough to help Latino smokers with asthmatic children kick the habit, according to a new study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. In the study, Latino parents with an asthmatic child were more likely to quit smoking when they received a culturally-tailored intervention that provides feedback about how much secondhand smoke their children were exposed to, compared to parents who followed existing smoking cessation clinical guidelines.
Medical News Today
Redes Report: News on Latino Cancer
Feb 24th
Check out some Latino cancer news in the new issue of the Redes Report, the quarterly newsletter of Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, a national program led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaudToday.
The report contains news from the Redes network and the excellent work being conducted by dedicated role models working in Latino cancer research, training and awareness throughout the U.S.
Read the newsletter here.
Report: Hispanics Bear Brunt of Childhood Asthma
Feb 23rd
Hispanic children bear much of the burden of asthma, the most common childhood chronic disease, according to a new report by George Washington University researchers.
The report, Changing Policy: The Elements for Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes, found that asthma adds about 50 cents to every health care dollar spent on children with asthma compared to children without. Low income and minority children bear the heaviest burden of asthma and its consequences, including death.
Among minorities, the report found that Hispanic children with asthma have the highest expenditures for emergency room care among all children, double the ER cost of white children.
Yet, Hispanics spend less on regular office visits and medications that might keep their asthma in check.
“Too many parents are watching their children – especially those families living in African American, Hispanic and poor neighborhoods – suffer needlessly from asthma because of improper or non-existent management of their condition,” said Dr. Floyd Malveaux, Executive Director of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), which supported the report along with the RCHN Community Health Foundation.
Read the supplement, which hopes to change these trends, here.
U.S. Government Releases ‘State of the Union’ on Health
Feb 22nd
The use of medical technology increased dramatically between 1996 and 2006, according to “Health, United States, 2009,” the federal government’s 33rd annual report to the President and Congress on the health of all Americans.
The report was prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics from data gathered by state and federal health agencies and through ongoing national surveys.
This year’s edition features a special section on medical technology.
Also available is a wide variety of graphics and data on Hispanics, including topics such as population, births, deaths, health expenditures, health status, risk factors, and chronic disease, health care coverage, and access to health care.
NICHQ Launches Web Site to Help Reverse Childhod Obesity
Feb 22nd
The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality has launched a new advocacy Web site to provide tools, training and support to improve communities’ physical environments and help reverse childhood obesity.
The site, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), features discussion groups, poll questions and a blog to connect with other healthcare professionals looking to effect change in their communities.
Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled. Children in lower-income families and children in the South tend to have higher rates of obesity than do the general population. The epidemic is especially evident among African-American, Hispanic and American Indian populations.
Check out the site here.
