About 90% of U.S. teens go online daily and 32% of Latino teens go online "almost constantly," a higher rate that white teens (19%) and comparable to black teens (34%), according to a new Pew Research report. Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Overall, more than 70% of Latino, black, and white teens ages 13-17 have access to a smartphone, which has become a top driver of teen Internet, texting, and social media use. Patterns of social media use seem to be affected by socioeconomic status, as teens from lesser-income households (those earning less than $50,000) are more likely than others to say they use Facebook the most. Teens from high-higher households are somewhat more likely to visit Snapchat and Twitter more often than those from lesser-income ...
The United States is expected to become a "majority-minority" by 2044, when no racial/ethnic group comprises more than half of the nation's residents, according to new Census data. Currently, whites comprise about 63% of the population. By 2060, that percentage will reduce to 44%, while other minority groups continue to rise in number. Latinos are expected to rise from 17.4% now to 28.6% in 2060. Blacks will rise from 13.2% to 14.3% and Asians 5.4% to 9.3% in the same span. Children are expected to reach "majority-minority" status even sooner in 2020. These numbers are shifting due to decreasing fertility among non-Latino whites, and increases in immigration, according to a Medical Daily report: "The New York Times reported that 2013 marked the first year in U.S. ...
For the first time ever, U.S. public schools are projected this fall to have more minority students than white students enrolled, a shift largely fueled by growth in the number of Hispanic children, the Associated Press reports. White students are still most populous, but their numbers dipped just below 50% for the first time. Here is the racial/ethnic breakdown of students, according to National Center for Education Statistics: 49.8% White
25% Hispanic
15% Black
5% Asian
5% Other "The shift creates new academic realities, such as the need for more English language instruction, and cultural ones, meaning changes in school lunch menus in the Southwest and elsewhere to include tortillas and other offerings to reflect students’ tastes," according to the Associated ...
Despite slow improvements in the quality of care overall, access is worsening and health care disparities, particularly for minorities and groups with lower socioeconomic status, have seen little to no improvement, according to a new report. The report, the 11th annual National Healthcare Disparities Report, is conducted annually by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), found that, compared with whites, racial/ethnic minorities receive worse care across 25-40% of quality measures. Poor and low-income people receive worse care than individuals with high income for about 60% of quality measures. These disparities are even more pronounced for measures of health care access, and among particular racial/ethnic groups. Hispanics had worse access to care than Whites ...
U.S. Latino, black, and American Indian children have greater obstacles to success than white and Asian children, according to a new report, NPR reports. The report, called Race for Results from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, explores the intersection of kids, race and opportunity. The report includes a score that compares how racial/ethnic children are progressing on 12 key milestones from birth to adulthood—such as math proficiency, high school graduation data, teen birth rates, employment prospects, family income and education levels, and poverty levels—at the national and state levels. The higher the score (up to 1,000), the better children fare. Asian children have the highest score at 776, followed by white children at 704. Among Latinos, only eight states had ...
Black and Hispanic women newly diagnosed with breast cancer often face delays in care of more than a month, a large study has found, according to a news report. The study, which appears in the February issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, found that 62.4% of African-American women and 59.3% of Hispanic women received a diagnosis of stage II or stage III breast cancer compared with 48.9 percent of white women. Delays in treatment were apparent in the new study, as African-American and Hispanic women had higher risks of 30-, 60- and 90-day delays compared to white women. The risk of a 60-day treatment delay was 76% higher among black patients with private insurance than that of white patients with comparable insurance. Hispanics with private insurance had ...
Melanoma is on the rise among certain groups of dark-skinned Floridians, new research shows, Reuters reports. The study isn't sure why but does provide an important main message: "Just because you have darker skin pigmentation, whether you're Hispanic or black, does not make you immune to skin cancer," Dr. Robert S. Kirsner of the University of Miami told Reuters Health. Melanoma remains much rarer among blacks and Hispanics than among whites, which helps explain why public health efforts to prevent melanoma chiefly target the light-skinned. In the current study, for example, in 2004 there were about 26 cases of melanoma diagnosed for every 100,000 persons per year among U.S. whites, compared to 4 cases for Hispanics and less than 1 case for non-Hispanic blacks. Nevertheless, ...
People with fair skin, blue eyes and red hair still have the highest risk of skin cancer, but doctors say the number of darker-skinned patients with skin lesions is rising, both under the hot Texas sun and nationally. Dr. Bahar F. Firoz of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio says melanoma is increasing among Hispanic women in particular. “Among Hispanic women of all ages in Texas, melanoma incidence increased 4.8 percent every year from 2002 to 2006. That is a very high rate,” Dr. Firoz said. “In Hispanic women over 50, this incidence is a whopping 10.8 percent. Overall, the incidence of melanoma is increasing in darker-skinned patients.” Dr. Firoz, assistant professor of dermatology and cutaneous surgery in the Health Science Center School of ...
