Latinos Have High Unemployment Rate
Feb 8th
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job losses since the start of the recession in December 2007 totaled 8.4 million, substantially more than previously reported, which means continued bad economic news for Latinos, according to a news report from the National Institute for Latino Policy.
From January 2009 to 2010, the Latino unemployment rate rose from 9.9 to 12.6 percent, compared to 8.7 percent for non-Latino Whites.
That means more than than 2.8 million Latinos are unemployed — 30.6 percent of the total number of unemployed in the U.S., according to statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS) by the Census Bureau.
Latino Groups Have Surprising Stance on ‘Soda Tax’
Feb 8th
Check out the L.A. Times‘ interesting article on how the soft drink industry squashed a plan to tax sugary beverages — a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped finance healthcare reform.
Recently the tax looked like it had a chance, given the need to fund more health insurance coverage and the soaring cost of treating ailments related to excess weight. But White House staff didn’t fully embrace the idea, and beverage lobbyists attacked some of the nation’s most distinguished nutriton scientists.
Some minority groups, including some committed to fighting obesity, even lined up against the tax:
Using the argument that higher food and drink taxes would unfairly burden the poor, the coalition recruited a bevy of Latino groups, among them the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute, the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Public health analysts were surprised to find that the list included the National Hispanic Medical Assn., which represents 36,000 Latino doctors and focuses on health issues, such as obesity-related diabetes, that hit Latino youth especially hard.
“Why in the world would a Hispanic health advocacy group do this?” asked Kelly Brownell, the director of Yale University’s Rudd Center on Food Policy and Obesity.
Read the rest of the article here.
More ‘Hispanic-Serving Institutions’ Expected to Emerge
Feb 5th
The number of “Hispanic-serving” institutions (HSIs) is set to rise dramatically in the next few years, according to a new study reported by Inside Higher Ed.
The federal government uses HSI designation to direct funding to nonprofit universities where Latinos comprise at least 25 percent of the full-time-equivalent student enrollment.
Excelencia in Education shows 265 HSIs and 176 on the brink of an HSI designation:
“Emerging” HSIs were located in 20 states. The highest concentration of these institutions was in California, which had 52, followed by Texas, which had 42. Still, Deborah Santiago, the report’s author and vice president for policy and research at Excelencia, said at a discussion accompanying the report’s release on Capitol Hill that these institutions are “not just in those places where we expect to see Latinos.” For instance, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Oregon and Utah are among the states that had one such institution.
The largest share — 44 percent — of the “emerging” HSIs were public community colleges. Private colleges and universities represented the second largest sector, with 31 percent.
One of the ”emerging” HSIs include Texas State University in San Marcos. Read the full report here.
What U.S. Cities Have the Largest Latino Populations?
Feb 5th
Four Texas cities and three California cities are among the top-10 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations, according to the Office of Minority Health (OMH) “Hispanic/Latino Profile.”
The full profile is here, including information on Latino:
- Demographics
- Language fluency
- Education
- Insurance coverage
- Health
“Hispanic health is often shaped by factors such as language/cultural barriers, lack of access to preventive care, and the lack of health insurance,” according to the site. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cited some of the leading causes of illness and death among Hispanics, which include heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries (accidents), stroke, and diabetes. Some other health conditions and risk factors that significantly affect Hispanics are: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV/AIDS, obesity, suicide, and liver disease.”
Latino Children Might Receive Different Pain Treatment Than Whites
Feb 4th
A new study found that differences might exist in the amount of pain medicine given to Latino and white children after surgery, according to a Health Behavior News Service report.
The study, which appears in the February issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, found thay Latino children received 30 percent less opioid analgesics (i.e., morphine-like drugs) than white children did.
Here’s an excerpt from the news report:
During surgery, administration of non-opioid analgesics (such as acetaminophen) and opioid analgesics was similar between Latino and white children, said lead study author Nathalia Jimenez, M.D., of Seattle Children’s Hospital. However, the significant difference after surgery suggests that pain treatment in children has some correlation with the patient’s ethnicity, according to the authors.
“The population in the United States is changing. Twenty-five percent of all the kids are Latino,” Jimenez said. “This is a little window to see how different people are treated or react differently to pain.”
And another excerpt on the possible reason for the disparity:
The difference in treatment might have been due to communication difficulties between the health care providers and the patients and their families, according to the researchers, who also suggested that Latino children might need smaller amounts of opioid analgesics after surgery, perhaps due to biological factors.
Surgeon General Releases Plan to Reduce Childhood Obesity
Feb 4th
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has released a report, the Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, which recommends ways to improve nutrition and physical activity, include school wellness policies, reduce junk food marketing to children and support walking and biking infrastructure.
Surgeon General Regina Benjamin
Yet the report hasn’t gotten the same media hype as when First Lady Michelle Obama made it her personal goal to fight against childhood obesity (earlier this week, the first lady met with lawmakers on the issue).
But the surgeon general’s report has merit, says a Washington Post blogger:
…[the report] talks about personal responsibility, about communities working together, about grassroots efforts. It places the onus for weight loss squarely on the shoulders of individuals. Here’s an excerpt:
As a society, we have to begin to change our habits one healthy choice at a time. Change starts with the individual choices we as Americans make each day for ourselves and those around us. Balancing good nutrition and physical activity while managing daily stressors is always a challenge, but one that can be achieved. Finding time to shop for and prepare healthy meals after work and between family activities requires planning. Stress and a lack of available healthy and affordable foods are some of the reasons why many people turn to fast food as a regular source for meals. Eating excess calories contributes to obesity, but so does watching too much television and sitting for hours in front of a computer.
These is not what many people want to hear — or expect to hear in these paternalistic days.
But to Benjamin, whose suitability for the job I joined many others in questioning when she was nominated, I say hear! hear! and Attagirl! and all kinds of other supportive stuff. For too many years, people have been encouraged to believe that their weight and that of their children was out of their control, subject to all kinds of insidious forces. Benjamin acknowledges that much of the world’s deck is stacked against those who would maintain a healthy weight — but she doesn’t allow that to stand as an excuse. Step up and join the fight, she urges.
To check out the rest of this Post blog, go here. Read the full report here.
Latino Rises from Slums to Prominent Cancer Research Career
Feb 3rd
The story of SaludToday researcher Dr. Dan Hughes, assistant professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, was featured 
in the CRCHD Cancer Disparities E-Bulletin:
Daniel C. Hughes, Ph.D. has never forgotten his beginnings. Much of his work is dedicated to studying cancer health disparities as a researcher and assistant professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research Group at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.
He grew up in the slums of Mexico City, the 4th youngest of five siblings which to a single mother. “We never knew how poor we really were,” Hughes said. His mother received no child support, no welfare checks, and the family had no refrigerator, no television set, not even a radio.
Read more here about how Dr. Hughes’ beginnings in Mexico City gave him a burning desire to go to school and succeed, taking what he gleaned from his own struggles to help the poor obtain better cancer treatment.
Program Profile: Latino Children’s Wellness
Feb 2nd
Latino Children’s Wellness is Arte Público Press’ newest publishing and outreach program that encompasses health and nutrition education.
The initiative’s mission is to expand access to important health and nutrition information through lively and engaging bilingual children’s books. These books will be distributed to low-income Hispanic families with school-aged children residing in urban and rural areas by our partnering organizations across the nation in 2010. The program is funded by the Kellogg Foundation.
For details on the Latino Children’s Wellness program, visit www.saludfamilia.com. The Web site is chock full off Latino child and family health news, topics, resources and policy information.
To collaborate with the program, contact Program Coordinator Deanna Landron-Reyes at delandro@central.uh.edu.
Arte Público Press is the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by U.S. Hispanic authors. For more information, please visit www.latinoteca.com.
Funding Opportunity: Improving Health in Vulnerable Populations
Feb 2nd
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships is a matching grants program that connects the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with local grantmakers to fund new, community-based projects to improve health and health care for vulnerable populations.
The effort is seeking nominations from diversity-focused funders for projects to reduce violence in traditionally underserved communities that are defined by race, ethnicity, tribe, gender, sexual identity or rural/frontier location.
For more information, go here.