Posts tagged immigrants

Profile: The Rise of Mexican-Origin Hispanics in the U.S.

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3 weeks ago
by admin in

mexico chartThe Mexican-origin population in the U.S. has risen dramatically over the past four decades—from less than 1 million in 1970 to 33.7 million in 2012—a result of one of the largest mass migrations in modern history, according to a new report by Pew Hispanic Center.

Of these 33.7 million, about 11.4 million are immigrants born in Mexico.

Compared with 1990, Mexican immigrants in 2011 were less likely to be male, considerably older, and better educated, according to the Pew report.

Other interesting tidbits include:

  • Language: 66% of Mexican-origin Hispanics ages 5 and older speak English proficiently.
  • Age: Mexican-origin Hispanics are younger (median age of 25) than both the U.S. population (37) and Hispanics overall (27).
  • Education: Mexicans have lower levels of education than the Hispanic population overall.
  • Health insurance: Fewer Mexicans than all Hispanics have health insurance (33% vs. 30%).
  • Poverty: More Mexicans live in poverty (27%) than Hispanics overall (25%).

Read more here.

VIDEO: Immigrants Pushing Apples in the Big Apple

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1 year ago
by admin in

In The Apple Pushers, a critically-acclaimed documentary that follows a group of New York immigrants who are eliminating food deserts in their urban communities, filmmakers follow five street vendors who are part of a unique program called the NYC Green Cart Initiative, which deploys pushcart vendors to bring produce to underserved New York neighborhoods, PreventObesity.net reports.

It’s a somewhat typical story for the obesity field, a tale about a public-private partnership working to tackle a local problem through creative means.

The documentary, narrated by actor Edward Norton, also helps viewers get to know the vendors pushing those carts around, telling the touching stories of five immigrants striving to achieve the American dream.

Watch the trailer here or below.

U.S.-born Latinos Find Themselves Lumped Together with Immigrants

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3 years ago
by admin in

Two-thirds of Latino youths are U.S.-born, a shift from 14 years ago when nearly half were immigrants and a portent of an increasingly Latino U.S. society, according to a new Pew Hispanic Center study.

A news report on the study featured some interesting tidbits:

  • Latinos now comprise 18 percent of all U.S. youths ages 16 to 25.
  • More than 15 percent of U.S. residents are now Latino, according to 2008 U.S. Census estimates.

And it also had this to say about the distinction between U.S.- and foreign-born Latinos:

Even though the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” are often used by the news media, politicians and Latino-advocacy organizations to lump together the tens of millions of people with Latin American ancestry, 52 percent of young Latinos use national-origin words like “Mexican” or “Salvadoran” as the first term to identify themselves, compared with 20 percent who use “Hispanic” or “Latino,” and 24 percent who use “American.”

Jennifer Najera, an assistant professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside and an expert on Mexican-American culture, said most young Latinos’ preference to use terms other than “American” to initially identify themselves reflects society’s views of them. Popular culture often portrays Latinos as immigrants, even though most are not. Non-Hispanics often pigeonhole Latinos by their ethnicity and physical appearance in a way they do not for European immigrants and their descendants, she said.

The news story goes on to make more unique observations, including the socioeconomic differences between second and third-generation U.S. Latinos and their use of “Spanglish.”

Obesity, Immigration, Age Driving Up Diabetes Rates in Canada

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3 years ago
by admin in

Rising rates of diabetes in Canada could cost the economy as much as $17 billion by the year 2020, according to a new report that calls on the government to do more to ease the economic burden.

The Canadian Diabetes Association’s report, An Economic Tsunami: The Cost of Diabetes in Canada, warns that more than 20 people are diagnosed with the disease every hour of every day, and that number is expected to continue to rise over the coming years.

Rising obesity rates, an aging population and changes in the ethnic mix of new immigrants are all believed to be driving the increasing rates of diabetes.

Almost 80 percent of new Canadians are from populations that are at a higher risk for diabetes, including people of South Asian, Asian, African and Hispanic descent.

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