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Eric Moreno

Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.

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Articles by Eric Moreno

How Can Businesses Impact the Obesity Problem?



Childhood obesity is a serious public health concern in the United States. About 12.7 million children and adolescents aged 2–19 years, or 17 percent of the population, have obesity. For minorities, the statistics are even more troubling. Nearly 40% of Latino children are overweight or obese (higher rates than both white and black children), placing a significant burden on the current and future state of Latino health. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has recently released a discussion paper in which they analyze the role that local businesses can play in alleviating this the childhood obesity epidemic. Per the report (and in line with Salud America’s research) a lack of access to affordable, healthy foods, the absence of physical activity in schools and childcare ...

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What Latinas Need to Know about Cervical Cancer


latina with computer

A recent study uncovered some alarming facts about cervical cancer. Women are dying at higher rates from cervical cancer than previously thought. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. By getting regular Pap tests, doctors can find and treat abnormal cells in the cervix before they become cancerous. Latinas already have the highest rates of cervical cancer among all groups of women. Cervical cancer disproportionately impacts the Latino community at 9.7%, compared to non-Latinos at 7.1%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The American Cancer Society also notes that in just this year alone, more than 12,820 cases will be diagnosed, and 4,210 women will die from the disease. Even more important, perhaps, is that it is the ...

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Housing Segregation Results in Lower Pay & Education



It has long been known that where you live greatly impacts a person’s overall life and their potential future success. Environment affects health, income, education, and access to opportunities. Many Latinos are often forced to live in low-income, high-poverty, and high-crime areas through a variety of obstacles and barriers put into their paths. A report from the Metropolitan Planning Council and Urban Institute attempted to determine the real cost of racial segregation in housing. According to the report, this situation is costing the country as a whole billions of dollars each year. “Our study documents the relationships between segregation and the incomes, educations and safety of a metropolitan region’s residents,” said Greg Acs, the director of the Income and Benefits ...

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Ranking America’s Most Obese Cities



There is no secret that the United States overall has an obesity problem. According to a new report from the financial website WalletHub, the cost for America’s fight with obesity costs nearly $316 billion per year in medical bills. More than a third of U.S. adults are obese (36.5%), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity in children and adolescents between the ages 2 of 19 sits at 17%. For Latinos, the problem is at an epidemic level. Nearly 40% of Latino children are overweight or obese (higher rates than both white and black children), placing a significant burden on the current and future state of Latino health. According to WalletHub, more than 70 percent of Americans (age 15 and older) are overweight or obese. In order to reduce health ...

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Modesto Junior College Hosts Fair for Incoming Latino Students



As Latinos continue to grow as a population (they are currently the nation’s largest racial and ethnic minority group), the focus on increasing educational opportunities for them has become a front burner topic on the agenda of many organizations. In Modesto, Calif. (37.54% Latino population), one local institution has taken an innovative approach to not only increase Latino enrollment, but also to ensure that they succeed once they begin. Modesto Junior College recently completed its Hispanic Education Conference in which hundreds of local students were “exposed to higher education” through a series of workshops and motivational speakers. Increasing Latino students’ exposure to higher education outlets has been identified as a key way to eliminating some barriers that they ...

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Promotoras in California Have Community on the Right Track toward Improving Health



Promotores de salud have long been recognized as being able to break down barriers that keep many Latinos from obtaining quality, accessible health care. Often members of the community in which they do outreach, promotores are able to foster trust with the Latino population they serve. In San Luis Obispo, Calif. (16.36% Latino population), the Promotores Collaborative looks to have moved the area’s Latino community onto the “fast track” of being able to access the city’s health resources. The group is an emerging prevention and health education organization that works in the community through neighbor-to-neighbor outreach. Created by the nonprofit Center for Family Strengthening, the Promotores Collaborative recruits, organizes, and trains networks of Spanish-speaking ...

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Program in California Advances Financial Literacy for High School Students



Access is one of the main reasons many Latinos do not continue their education beyond high school. The lack of access to resources and information –especially financial literacy—keeps many Latino students from going to college. A new program in Pico Rivera, Calif. (90.63% Latino population), is looking to remove some of these barriers. Heberto M. Sanchez, President and founder of the nonprofit Latino Educational Fund (LEF), and Principal Jonathan Lyons of El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera have agreed to launch the Student Loan Board Program, a “forward thinking pilot program” aimed at advancing the financial literacy for their students. “This is a unique opportunity for our students to learn about how lending works through the LEF’s hands-on Student Loan Board ...

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Six Signs of Colorectal Cancer You NEED to Know About


Emergency room doctor examining woman

While colorectal cancer rates have gone down among older adults, they are spiking among Millennials and Generation Xers, recent studies disturbingly have found. Compared to people born in 1950, people born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer, according to American Cancer Society researchers who analyzed data from more than 490,000 colorectal cancer cases in adults from 1974 to 2013. For Latinos, this is especially troubling information. Colon cancer is already the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among Latino men and the third-leading cause of cancer deaths among Latinas. “It’s extremely rare for an incidence of a disease to increase this much,” said Dr. Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan ...

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‘Juntos Program’ Helps Latino Families Succeed in Iowa



In recent years, Latinos have made great strides in achievement in education. Latino high school dropout rates are at an all-time low and more and more Latinos are enrolling in two- and four-year colleges and universities. In Sheldon, IA (5.99% Latino population), a new program has been launched to help the community’s Latinos excel even more in school. The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Northwest Iowa Community College are excited to offer local Latino families with the opportunity to take part in what’s being called “Juntos para una mejor educación” (Together for a Better Education). According to radio station KIWA, extension officials have described the program as a series of activities for middle school students and their families with the goal ...

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