Making a Connection to Improve Latino Health
Archive for December, 2011
Mental Health Workforce Shortage More Critical in Minority Communities
01 year ago
Texas’ severe shortage of mental health professionals is compounded by a disparity in diagnosing and treating the state’s rapidly growing Latino and other minority communities, the Texas Tribune reports.
The report indicates that 64% of all psychiatrists were white, 3.5% were black, and 12.4% were Hispanic in 2009.
Watch this captivating video to see more about this issue.
Sugary Drinks 101 for Latinos (Part 2)
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series that will highlight the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s work in Latino communities across the country.
SaludToday Guest Blog: An Interview with Jennifer Harris
Jennifer Harris
Young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit drinks, according to a new study from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The study is the most comprehensive analysis of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted. The data indicate that the companies involved target young people, especially Black and Latino youth.
In an interview, Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives for the Rudd Center, details exactly how beverage companies are marketing to Latino youth, how sugary drinks contribute to childhood obesity and what parents need to know to ensure their children and teens are getting the nutrition they need.
The report details how marketers see Latino and Black youth as future sources of growth. Can you explain that finding?
The best place to find this kind of information is company annual reports. We found that both Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper/Snapple group have said in their annual reports that the Latino market and Latino youth are important future growth opportunities for them.
On one hand, it’s a good thing that they’re recognizing the importance of this consumer. On the other hand, these are very unhealthy products that are clearly contributing to obesity, and no one should be consuming more of these. So making [Latinos and Blacks] a growth market is a public health issue.
What about the marketing that has shifted from traditional radio and TV to newer forms of media like smartphone apps?
Coca-Cola really is the extreme case. It just received an award for marketer of the year for innovative marketing practices. It is less on traditional TV than other brands. But it is the highest advertiser for product placements on TV and radio. It has the most youth visitors to its website and offers the My Coke Rewards program, which is a website that basically gives rewards for purchasing the product. A frequent drinker program of sorts.
On Facebook, it has more followers or likes than any other brand of any sort, not just food brands. It also does mobile marketing, and not many beverage companies do. Its iPhone apps are clearly youth targeted—for example, a spin-the-bottle and magic Coke bottle apps. Just like the Magic 8 ball, you ask it questions and you’ll get an answer from the Coke bottle when you shake it. It’s entertaining stuff, which is all designed to get people to love the Coke brand.
Coke is the extreme example of this, but many other brands are expanding their marketing to include similar things.
So how do we educate parents to understand what daily beverage consumption is considered healthy?
There’s no reason that any child should ever drink a product that has added sugar. The most important thing is to check the label to see if there’s added sugar. The sad thing is that we found very few products that had low levels of added sugar. Most of them had very high levels, and a lot of these products had more sugar than a child should be drinking in an entire day in just one serving. Children should be drinking water, low-fat or non-fat milk and small amounts of juice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 7 ounces for a young child, and I think its 12 ounces for an older child.
There’s no reason that they should be drinking sugary beverages because, more than any other food product, there’s a lot of research to show that drinking these products directly contributes to obesity.
Sugary Drinks 101 for Latinos (Part 1)
11 year ago
Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series that will highlight the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s work in Latino communities across the country.
SaludToday Guest Blog: An Interview with Jennifer Harris
Jennifer Harris
Young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks and fruit drinks, according to a new study from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The study is the most comprehensive analysis of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted. The data indicate that the companies involved target young people, especially Black and Latino youth.
In an interview, Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives for the Rudd Center, details exactly how beverage companies are marketing to Latino youth, how sugary drinks contribute to childhood obesity and what parents need to know to ensure their children and teens are getting the nutrition they need.
How are marketers specifically targeting Black and Latino youth with sugary drink ads?
We don’t know for sure that the marketers are targeting anyone because we don’t have access to their internal strategy documents. So what we do is look at the data and ask a couple of questions. We ask if they’re using techniques that appeal more to one group or another. For example, Sprite has a step-and-jerk dance competition, which is popular among Black, inner-city youth; that would be an indicator they’re targeting Black youth. Or any kind of Spanish-language advertising would be obvious that they’re targeting a Latino audience.
We know how many Black or Latino youth are seeing different advertising, so we compare that to how many ads white youth are seeing, and the data show us what products are reaching disproportionately more Black or Latino youth.
How are sugary drink companies advertising on Latino-focused media?
There were really only a handful of companies that advertise on Spanish-language TV, and Coca-Cola was clearly the leader. Over a third of the advertisements that Latino youth saw were for Coca-Cola. 5-hour ENERGY drink was also big.
The other thing that we saw was how more and more sugary drink companies are buying ads on Latino media. They spent about almost 50 percent more on Spanish-language media in 2010 as they did in 2008. So there’s an upward trend going on there.
Another thing about Spanish-language media was that Latino preschoolers watch a lot more Spanish-language TV than older children, so those preschoolers are actually seeing more of these ads than somewhat older children or teens. That’s a concern. And then on Spanish-language radio, again, Coca-Cola was the biggest advertiser there as well as Gatorade and Dr Pepper.
The report addresses Spanish-language media. Was there an evaluation done of English-language media that target Latino audiences, such as MTV Tr3s or similar outlets?
Nielsen classifies those cable networks as Spanish-language as well.
One surprising detail in the report is about Sunny Delight. Talk about the findings specific to Sunny D.
Sunny D is basically a fruit drink with added vitamin C, which is not especially important according to most of the nutritionists we spoke to. It has really high sodium levels—the highest of any of the fruit drinks. It also has artificial sweetener, so it has sugar plus artificial sweetener, and what that does is just really make the beverage sweet. This is a concern for children because everyone prefers the sweet taste, but it’s also something you become accustomed to. The sweeter the products you consume, the more you like that sweet taste.
Sunny D had artificial sweeteners, 18-20 grams of sugar per 8 ounces and more sodium then any of the other fruit drinks. It’s definitely the worst product that’s marketed to kids, but it does have that health halo.
We also did research with parents, asking them how healthy they think that product is. Included were Latino, non-Latino and Black parents. They all thought that product was healthy.
So where is the disconnect?
It’s probably because [the manufacturer] markets the drink as a good source of Vitamin C, and it looks like orange juice.
Another thing related to fruit drinks that we found happening a lot on websites and a little bit on TV is that Kool-Aid is being marketed to parents as cheaper than soda, Latino parents specifically. While that’s true, kids shouldn’t be drinking it.
How to Overcome Latino Children’s Low Physical Activity Levels
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This is Part 3 of a series on new Salud America! research briefs examining Latino youth nutrition, physical activity and marketing. Today’s focus is physical activity.
Preventing obesity among Latino youth will require a sizeable decrease in energy intake and/or a reciprocal increase in physical activity.
A new Salud America! research brief shows that:
- Latino parents report more barriers to their children’s physical activity than do white parents, including transportation problems, concerns about neighborhood safety, and the expense and availability of local recreation opportunities.
- Latino children living in lower-income communities and unsafe neighborhoods are more likely to be physically inactive, overweight and/or obese.
- Immigrant Latino children are more likely to be physically inactive compared with both native whites and native Latinos.
- Latino youth are significantly less likely than their white peers to get involved in organized physical activity outside of school.
- Parents of overweight Latino children provide less support for their children to engage in physical activity. Also, lack of quality advice from healthcare providers about physical activity and weight issues is a barrier for some Latino parents.
What can be done to promote physical activity among Latino children?
Evidence shows that the introduction of physical activity among sedentary and/or overweight Latino youths provides health benefits (e.g., increased insulin sensitivity, greater muscle mass), even in the absence of weight loss.
So culturally appropriate interventions and state policies that require regular, quality PE classes designed to promote physical activity among Latino children should be a health priority among local governments and city councils.
Also, given that Latino youth tend to live in neighborhoods with poor sidewalks and unsafe streets and their parents believe police protection is inadequate, local transportation, public works and law enforcement departments should prioritize improvements in these areas to help promote outside physical activity.
Read more here.
Latino Children Struggle to Avoid Unhealthy Foods
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a series on new Salud America! research briefs examining Latino youth nutrition, physical activity and marketing. Today’s focus is nutrition.
The modern urban environment, replete with convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, has provided easy access to generally unhealthy foods and beverages, while not always providing access to healthy ones, especially in Latino communities.
A new Salud America! research brief shows that:
- Families and youth residing in low-income, Latino neighborhoods often face limited access to supermarkets, chain grocery stores and healthy foods.
- Latino high school students have greater access to both unhealthy and healthy food choices than do other high school students.
- Compared with the national average, food insecurity is substantially higher in Latino households.
- The influence of meals on Latino nutrition and overweight is complex: Eating away from home and at home can both contribute to poor dietary behaviors and obesity among certain Latino subgroups.
- “Empty” calories from solid fat and added sugars constitute a large proportion of total calories consumed by Mexican-American and other Latino children.
- Cultural traditions about infant and toddler feeding may contribute to subsequent overweight among Latino children.
But there is good news.
Research suggests that small dietary changes can greatly improve health status among Latino youth, and intensive, multi-component, culturally relevant, school-based interventions that integrate nutrition, physical activity, behavior change and social marketing can improve healthy eating and promote weight loss in Latino youth.
Bringing healthy, affordable foods to all neighborhoods should be a priority within Latino communities since they are disproportionately affected by obesity.
Local governments should consider zoning ordinances and positive financial incentives to improve food environments. Such efforts may include tax incentives for businesses to sell low-calorie, high-nutrient foods and beverages and/or grants and loan programs, small business development programs and tax incentives that encourage grocery stores to locate in underserved areas.
Communities and city council should prioritize healthy foods and eliminate junk foods in and around schools, particularly those with large Latino populations.
Read more here.
Marketing Has Heavy Influence on Latino Childhood Obesity
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a series on new Salud America! research briefs examining Latino youth nutrition, physical activity and marketing. Today’s focus is marketing.
As with other children and adolescents, marketing may also have a powerful influence on the health behaviors of Latino youth.
A new Salud America! research brief shows that:
- The amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, particularly among Latinos.
- Latinos are avid users of digital media, including the Internet and mobile phones, among other new media platforms (e.g., Facebook, MySpace).
- Latino youth, have been identified as an important target market segment among fast-food and soda companies.
- Children viewing Spanish-language TV in the U.S. are heavily exposed to food and drink commercials.
- Low-income Latino communities are disproportionately exposed to outdoor ads for high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages.
- Latinos perceive greater exposure to fast-food promotions and see fast-food restaurants as more conveniently located relative to whites.
To address the paucity of research on the influence of marketing practices specifically targeted to Latino youth, a full range of studies is necessary related to these findings.
But what should policymakers do?
Policymakers should, as the brief suggests, consider banning all junk-food advertising to young children and banning junk-food advertising techniques that are deceptive and misleading to adolescents to reduce the potential influence of marketing for high-calorie, low nutrient-dense foods. Fast-food, soda, snack, and cereal companies should be encouraged to adopt meaningful standards for child-targeted marketing.
Also, public and private funds should be used for culturally competent, Spanish-language
counter-marketing and health promotion efforts.
Read more here.
VIDEO: Challenges to Healthy Eating Along the Texas-Mexico Border
01 year ago
Food access and mobile food vendors make eating healthy food a challenge in Texas colonias—rural, predominantly Latino settlements along the U.S.-Mexican border that often lack water, electricity, and other infrastructure.
Check out a video discussion of colonia issues with Dr. Joseph Sharkey, a professor at The Texas A&M Health Sciences Center and a Healthy Eating Research grantee.
Èxito! Grad Testimonial: Maria Priscilla Brietzke
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This is the testimonial of a graduate of the 2011 Summer Institute of Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training. Read more testimonials here or apply by March 1 for the 2012 Èxito! program.
Maria Priscilla Brietzke
Houston, Texas
Maria Priscilla Brietzke
After seeing how media can help improve Latinas’ health behavior during a practicum along the Texas-Mexico Border, Maria Priscilla Brietzke believes that small changes have big power to help the disadvantaged.
Brietzke, who currently is a research assisting at the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston School of Nursing, is focusing on making both small and large changes in age-related chronic illness.
Because she had questions about balancing work and life in a doctoral-level research career, she took a friend’s suggestion and joined Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training—which aims to increase diversity in Latino health disparities and cancer research by encouraging Latino master’s-level students and master’s trained health professionals to pursue a doctoral degree and a career in research.
At the Éxito! Summer Institute in June 2011, Brietzke had her questions answered and more.
She understood the immediate need for Latino health disparity and cancer research so much so that, just weeks after the institute’s conclusion, Brietzke already is contacting potential mentors and planning campus visits to find the right program(s) and looking to hopefully receive a short-term internship opportunity abroad.
“Although I was already interested in contributing to health disparities research projects, Éxito! motivated me to lead my own research in the future,” she said. “For me, the first step will be to complete a doctoral degree.”
New Research Briefs Examine Obesity Epidemic Among Latino Youths
01 year ago
Salud America!, a national obesity prevention program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) based at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, has released a comprehensive collection of research briefs examining the obesity epidemic among Latino children and teens.
Three new national briefs review current evidence with respect to Latino youth in three major areas: nutrition, physical activity and the impact of food marketing.
These briefs also provide policy recommendations, including:
- Efforts to bring healthy foods into neighborhoods and schools should particularly focus on Latino communities, since they are disproportionately affected.
- Policies that can help people be physically active in their neighborhoods should emphasize Latino populations because they are more likely to live in areas that do not support such activity.
- Efforts to reduce exposure to unhealthy food and beverage marketing should consider that Latino youth are particularly targeted by advertisers.
- Health programs and messages should be culturally sensitive, relevant for all populations and produced in both English and Spanish.
In addition to these three briefs, 20 pilot grantees funded by RWJF through Salud America! have produced briefs highlighting their own, new research.
These briefs analyze a wide range of issues, from the impact of menu labeling in small restaurants in south Los Angeles, to how after-school programs can help Latino youth be active, to how community gardens can help lower-income Latino families eat more fruits and vegetables.
“These briefs provide a snapshot of the state of the Latino childhood obesity epidemic and describe how leaders and policymakers can more effectively address it,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America!, a national network of researchers, community leaders and policymakers who are working together to increase the number of Latino scientists seeking environmental and policy solutions to address Latino childhood obesity.
Latinos are currently the most populous and fastest growing U.S. ethnic minority.
And according to recent estimates, nearly 40% of Latino children and teens are overweight and more than 20% are obese.
Hector Flores
I happen to see this blog for the first time and I am looking to see the spanish version of this blog including the videos. I considered […]
3 weeks ago
Neda Padilla
how can we get a copy of the slides?
1 month ago
Gerald Ohta
10:30 Central Daylight is 5:30 AM Hawaii Standard Time. Presuming your time is Daylight not Standard. If it is Standard, then it's 6:30 […]
1 month ago
Janet
I think it's great to make our schools healthier for children! It promotes lifelong health and decreases risks of problems as an adult!
1 month ago
Texas blog roundup for the week of March 25 – Off the Kuff
[...] Salud Today praises the city of San Antonio’s pre-kindergarten initiative. [...]
1 month ago