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.
On Thursday, March 9, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to address “persistent problems of poverty, violence, and poor health” in the borough of Brooklyn (28.92% Latino population). The eight-pronged plan hopes to incorporate holistic approaches to address these concerning issues. The initiative, entitled Vital Brooklyn, looked to poor resources several economically struggling neighborhoods in Brooklyn. While much of Brooklyn has prospered in recent years, crime and unemployment are still rampant in certain areas. “For too long investment in underserved communities has lacked the strategy necessary to end systemic social and economic disparity,” Cuomo said in an interview with The New York Times. “But in Central Brooklyn those failed approaches stop today. We ...
Already the largest and still-growing U.S. racial/ethnic minority, Latinos are a diverse people with distinct differences in origin, language use, and family characteristics. But what are the true Latino family dynamics? New research has confirmed what many already knew about Latino families: they are tightly-knit, resilient, and generally stable, according to a new report by the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. The report, La Familia: Latino Families Strong and Stable, Despite Limited Resources, is among the first to give the complete “breakdown” of Latino households, examining data about mothers, fathers, and children. It indicates, after analyzing data available through 2010, that "Latino families have many of the traits children need to ...
Latinos are the fastest growing racial and ethnic minority population in the country. They are already the largest and youngest and are closing the gaps in several key inequity gaps, including education and health care access. Another important social determinant of health is employment. The ability to find sustainable and equitable employment is key in factoring the long-term health of most individuals. A new report from the financial site WalletHub has helped determine what the “hardest working” cities in the United States are. Using six metric measures, the site compared the 116 largest cities in the country. These measures include “labor-force participation rate,” “average weekly work hours,” and “share of workers with multiple jobs.” In order to ...
Los Angeles, California (48.67% Latino population) is the second largest city in the United States. The city is also one of the largest urban hubs of Latinos in the country. However, the inequity gaps in health, wealth, income, and opportunities for Latinos is rising in the City of Angels. In a report developed by PolicyLink, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and the Weingart Foundation, a number of “grim” statistics and facts were uncovered. “Across the region, people are struggling daily for the things so many of us take for granted – safe streets, good jobs, access to health care, affordable housing and a quality education for our families,” said Fred Ali, president and CEO of the Weingart Foundation in an interview with Hollywood Patch. “Over the ...
Nationally, Latinos are the largest ethnic/racial minority group and they are growing in numbers. They are expected to grow from 1 in 6 people today to 1 in 4 by 2035 and 1 in 3 by 2060. According to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos represent 40% of the state of Texas’ population and 52% of the state’s public school student population. “[It] is clear that the future of Texas will be increasingly tied to its minority populations, particularly its Hispanic population,” said former state demographer Steve Murdock, who is now the director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University. “As a result, how well our current minority populations do will be increasingly how well we all do.” In Texas, the education of Latinos is taking on a greater ...
There are often preconceived notions in regards to Latinos and their family dynamics. Already the country’s largest racial/ethnic minority group, which is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, Latinos represent a diverse group of people with distinct differences depending on where they are from and the language they use. New research has confirmed what many already knew about Latino families: they are tightly-knit, resilient, and generally stable. The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families has recently released a new brief series entitled “La Familia: Latino Families Strong and Stable, Despite Limited Resources.” The series is one of the first ever to give the complete “breakdown” of Latino households, examining data about mothers, ...
Childhood obesity is a serious problem facing our country, especially among Latinos who have far less healthy weights than their non-Latino peers. A new study has found an unlikely, controversial source for Latino childhood obesity: Antibiotic exposure. Exposing a child to antibiotics before the age 6 months increases the risk of obesity by age 2 for Latino infants in low-income urban communities, according to an article published in the journal Childhood Obesity. Study authors determined that antibiotics might have “harmful effects … on the healthy gut microbiome” during the early period of development for young children. This could increase the risk of obesity as they get older. “The work by [Drs. Annette Ville, Janet Wojcicki, and others at the University of ...
It is a known fact that one of the most important social determinants of health is where you live. More and more local and state governments are realizing how important environment is to overall health and well-being. For Latinos, where they live is often leads to unavoidable health disparities due to lack of access to healthcare, healthy food choices, and educational opportunities. Recently U.S. News & World Report outlined the best and worst states to live in based on a host of categories that residents value the most. These categories include health care, education, infrastructure, crime rates, and economic opportunities. According to the new report, Massachusetts (10.56% Latino population) was rated number one overall. Not surprisingly, as Massachusetts is home to Harvard ...
Breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of Latinas in the United States. This is a fact many organizations are working to change. One such group, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, has begun accepting applications for its 2017 Hear My Voice: Metastatic Breast Cancer Outreach Volunteer Program. The Hear My Voice program offers tools and training to help volunteer advocates reach out people living with metastatic breast cancer, hoping to make a positive impact on individuals' lives in both their “physical and digital communities.” To reach out to all women, Living Beyond Breast Cancer is looking to recruit a diverse group of volunteers for the program. They are especially looking for Latino and Latina applicants. This year’s Hear My Voice training will be held April 28-30, 2017, at ...
