Making a Connection to Improve Latino Health
Posts tagged overweight
Study: Fast-Food Chains Near Urban Schools Affect Obesity More among Blacks, Hispanics
02 weeks ago
Fast-food chains affect minority youth (photo from Baylor University via iStock)
When their schools are near fast-food restaurants, black and Hispanic adolescents are more likely to be overweight and receive less benefit from exercise than Asian or white students, according to new study.
The study, published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, found that for all students, having a fast-food restaurant a mile nearer to school almost entirely cancels the body weight benefits of exercising one day per week.
However, for black and Hispanic students in lower-income urban neighborhoods, having a fast-food restaurant a mile nearer to school may cancel the benefits of up to three days of exercise per week.
The study underscores the importance of understanding how adolescents respond to fast-food availability near school, researchers said.
“Our study demonstrates that fast food near schools is an environmental influence that has magnified effects on some minority children at lower-income urban schools,” said Dr. Brennan Davis, assistant professor of marketing at Baylor University, who co-authored the study with Dr. Sonya Grier, associate professor of marketing at American University.
Video: Excess Weight Associated with Increased Cancer Risk
010 months ago
How is excess weight linked to cancer risk?
Find out and discover how to lower your cancer risk in this new video from the National Cancer Institute.
Infographic: Being Active in Nature Makes Kids Healthier
01 year ago
by admin
in Healthy Lifestyles
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) Health & Environment Program released an infographic, Children & Nature: Being Active in Nature Makes Kids Healthier, to show the many benefits of being active in nature for children, Active Living Research reports on its blog.
Some of the facts include:
- Children living within a 1/2 mile of a park are more likely to have higher levels of physical activity.
- Children who spend more time outdoors are less likely to be overweight by 27-41%.
- Children have lost 25% of playtime and 50% of unstructured outdoor activity over recent decades.
Overweight/Obese Latino Youth More Likely to Have Asthma
01 year ago
Youth who are overweight or obese—especially Hispanics—are more likely to have asthma than their healthy weight counterparts, according to a new Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published in the online edition of Obesity.
The study, which included more than 681,000 children between ages 6 and 19, found that the association between asthma and body mass index (BMI) varied by race and ethnicity.
The association between BMI and asthma was strongest among Hispanic youth and weaker for African Americans, a group that was previously known to have the highest prevalence of asthma.
“This research contributes to the growing evidence that there is a relationship between childhood obesity and asthma, and suggests that factors related to race and ethnicity, particularly for Hispanic youth, may modify this relationship,” said study lead author Dr. Mary Helen Black of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, in a statement. “The study’s large and diverse population, which is broadly representative of the Southern California region, allowed us to examine a wide range of BMI categories in relation to asthma among youth from five racial/ethnic groups.”
Researchers also found that, among youths with asthma, being overweight or obese was associated with more frequent visits to the doctor or emergency department for asthma. In addition, overweight or obese youth with asthma used more inhaled and oral corticosteroid asthma drugs, compared to healthy-weight youth. The need for these medical treatments could have broader health implications as other studies have suggested a link between these medications and type 2 diabetes.
Study: Parenting Tips Positively Affect Latino Parents’ Feeding Attitudes, Practices
01 year ago
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 4 is Dr. Harris Huberman. Find all briefs here.
Dr. Harris Huberman
Dr. Harris Huberman
“Using Parenting Newsletters to Reduce Young Latino Children’s Weight”
In his Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Harris Huberman of SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York tested a low-cost parenting intervention to reduce rates of overweight and obesity in Latino children during the first three years of life.
The intervention features a series of age-paced parenting newsletters called Primeros Pasos in Spanish or Building Blocks in English (PP/BB), which are mailed monthly to families beginning at the birth of a child through age 3.
Key preliminary findings include:
- the PP/BB intervention reduced overweight during the first years of life; and
- the PP/BB intervention was associated with reduced rate of overweight through age 3.
A PP/BB intervention beginning in a child’s infancy, that utilizes culturally tailored parenting newsletters to influence parents’ feeding attitudes and practices, can have a beneficial impact in reducing overweight in Latino children as they reach preschool age.
This study suggests that preventive parenting approaches beginning in very early childhood—especially among Latinos—should be an element of broader obesity prevention strategies.
Read more here.
Salud America! is an RWJF national program directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.
Report: Addressing Latino Obesity in San Antonio and South Texas
02 years ago
A new report on the recent 2nd Annual SALSI Research Forum: Latino Obesity highlights innovative strategies and programs to reduce obesity among San Antonio and South Texas Latinos.
Nearly 75% of Latinos were overweight or obese in Texas as of 2009.
That’s why Latino obesity-focused research and programs are so vital.
“The researchers and leaders present at the forum are working at ‘ground zero’ of the Latino obesity epidemic in Texas,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, which coordinated the forum with UT San Antonio. “It’s important to highlight these efforts to better understand what works to encourage Latinos’ healthier lifestyles.”
The forum on May 10, 2011, was made possible by the San Antonio Life Science Institute (SALSI).
Read the full report or watch video of the speakers.
Study: 1 in 4 Overweight Women Think They’re Normal Size; Minorities Play Down Overweight Status
02 years ago
by admin
in Latino Obesity
Almost one-quarter of young women who are overweight actually perceive themselves as being normal weight, while a sizable minority (16 percent) of women at normal body weight actually fret that they’re too fat, according to a new study, HealthDay reports.
The study found that 30 percent of adult Americans in the “overweight” class believed they were actually normal size, while 70 percent of those classified as obese felt they were simply overweight.
Among overweight women, 28 percent of blacks and about 25 percent of Hispanics considered their weight within the normal range, compared to 15 percent of overweight white women. The trend was the opposite among normal-weight women, with more whites (16 percent) believing they were fat, compared to just 7 percent of blacks, according to the study, published in the December Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Findings from the study, which examined 2,200 mostly low-income women in Texas clinics, do mirror studies in different populations, HealthDay reports.
Just the Facts: Obesity Among Latino Youths
22 years ago
Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has updated its Overweight and Obesity Among Latino Youths fact sheets, which highlights the prevalence, consequences and causes of overweight and obesity among Latino youths, in both English and Spanish.
While childhood obesity has increased significantly throughout the general population, children from minority communities have been disproportionately affected.
Sharply higher rates of overweight and obesity have occurred among Latino, African-American and Native American children and adolescents.
We at SaludToday hope you read the fact sheet and get motivated to do something about it.
Shreya
Hey, thanks for sharing such a wonderful post. Ya, Latino families have more access to fast food & snack centers than that of healthy food. […]
6 days ago
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 […]
1 month ago
Neda Padilla
how can we get a copy of the slides?
2 months 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 […]
2 months 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!
2 months ago