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
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.
Latino, Black Kids at Higher Risk for Chronic Conditions
Feb 19th
Latino and black children had a higher risk of having a chronic health condition, such as obesity or asthma, a new study found, HealthDay reports.
The study, published in the February Journal of the American Medical Association, found that one of every two U.S. children now grapples at some time with a chronic health condition—one that lasts at least 12 months, the report states. The good news is that for many of those children, their chronic childhood illness won’t persist. Just over 7 percent of those who reported a chronic condition at the beginning of the study still had the condition six years later.
The bottom line, according to article commentary, is that U.S. children need better health habits. Prevention is key.
Read the journal article or the news story about the study.