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Catherine Stewart

Catherine Stewart is a digital content curator for Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. She is a graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland College Park, and hopes to utilize her skills to help people find their voices and inspire change in their communities.

Articles by Catherine Stewart

Data: Unlocking America’s Screen Time Habits



As technology has evolved, so has the way we receive, view, and disseminate information.   With the invention of the smart phone and devices like tablets, access to the outside world can be done with the touch of a button.  But, as convenient as it is to unlock a phone and type something into the search engine or open an app is, we can’t help but wonder what kind of effect staring at a screen for hours on end is having on our health?  The average American between the ages of 16 and 64 spends over seven hours a day online, according to an article by AllConnect.  This amount of time is well over the two-hour recommended screen time for adults.  Screen Time by the Numbers  65.7% of the world population is online. During the third quarter of 2023, people spent an ...

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907 Told EPA to Add PFAS to List of Hazardous Chemicals 


PFAS toxin clean water epa regulation scientists water

From what you wear and sit on to the ingredients found in products you use to clean your home; chemicals are all around us.  For example, a range of “forever chemicals” – known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – are found in many industrial and consumer products, such as paints, fire-fighting foam, metal plating, and cleaning agents.  PFAS have been linked to major health problems in humans and animals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  That’s why the EPA is proposing to add several PFAS chemicals to its hazardous waste management list under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations, in an effort to protect “communities and drinking water supplies” near hazardous waste facilities.  Before any action is ...

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Food Insecurity Linked to Rise of Fatty Liver Disease in Latino Children



Childhood cases of fatty liver disease have risen over the last decade, prompting researchers to search for answers in risk factors such as genes, birthweight, and malnutrition. While studies involving adults that have fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis and food insecurity have been conducted, few focused on children — until now. A recent study assessed the influence food insecurity – living without enough food for a healthy life for all family members – on the development of fatty liver disease in 4-year-old Latino children, and discovered that food-insecure Latino children experienced a higher risk for the disease. Results of the Fatty Liver Disease Study The study involved two groups of San Francisco Latino mothers and followed their child’s development from pregnancy ...

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La Representación Importa: The Need for More Latinos in Film, TV



After decades of being overlooked, a spike of positive representation of populations, such as Latinos, has swept into Hollywood and mainstream media. Latino pioneers like José Ferrer, Edward James Olmos, and Rita Moreno overcame adversity to play defining roles in an industry dominated by White actors, paving the way for future Latino actors and Latino-led projects to break from the mold. This success has led to a new wave of notable Latino standouts and projects. America Ferrera, a U.S.-born Latina of Honduran heritage, nabbed an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Barbie (2023). Pedro Pascal, born in Chile, delighted audiences in the titular role of The Mandalorian before taking the lead in HBO’s TV adaptation of video game series The Last of Us. Films such as ...

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Report: The Tech Industry Needs More Latinos



Latinos continue to be one of the most overlooked groups in high-paying jobs, such as careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Of the 34.9 million Americans working in STEM fields, only 8% are Latino as of 2021. Latinos are fewer than 10% of the workforce in the fields of health careers (9%), life science (8%), physical science (8%), computers and math (8%), and engineering (9%). The technology industry also lacks Latino visibility. One in every five US workers is Latino, and only one in 10 of them have a job in tech. There even fewer in leadership tech roles, according to a new Kapor Foundation report. This paints a stark contrast to the growing number of Latinos in the US. Latinos currently make up 19.1% of the US population, and are expected to rise to ...

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The 5 Biggest Issues Driving Young Latino Parents to the Polls



The 2024 calendar year marks a potential turning point in the federal government as the presidential election is set to take center stage in November. Latino voters could help decide the outcome. Of the over 246 million Americans projected to be registered to vote in 2024, 36.2 million are Latino, according to data published by Pew Research Center. That’s a 3.9 million increase from the last presidential election. The recent rise in projected voter registration means that Latinos will have a 14.71% say in what happens in the upcoming election. So, what’s on the mind of the Latino voter? To answer, Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors partnered with UnidosUS and BSP Research to survey 1,500 Latino parents with children 5-years-old and younger to understand the issues driving them to the ...

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Survey: Latinos Among Students Most Likely to Withdraw from College



Latino and Black students have the greatest risk of withdrawing from post-secondary education programs, according to a recent survey by the Lumina-Gallup State of Higher Education. This finding comes at a time when institutions offering bachelor’s degrees are seeing a significant drop in enrollment — a situation exacerbated by COVID-19. Over the last decade, college enrollment has declined by 7.4%, which is the equivalent of 1.5 million students, according to Best Colleges. The biggest decline – 900,000 students – came during the pandemic years of fall 2019 and fall 2023. While the enrollment of students such as Latinos and Blacks has somewhat improved, they are also considered to be more likely to leave. Survey Results on College Withdrawal In fall 2023, Gallup surveyed ...

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All of Us Research Data Unlocks 275 Million New Genetic Variants



For the last few years, the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has mounted an unprecedented effort to collect health data from 1 million people of all ages and ethnicities across the country for use in impactful scientific research. In fact, the data has led researchers to a shocking discovery — 275 million previously unknown genetic variants, according to a recent news release. Nearly 4 million of the variants are in areas that may be connected to risk for disease. The variants, uncovered using data shared by nearly 250,000 All of Us participants, put researchers in a position to better understand genetic influences on health and disease, especially in communities often left out of research. NIH reported that half the genomic data came from Latino, ...

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Watch: Researchers, Find Data for Your Study in Free Virtual All of Us Convention



The All of Us Research Program is peeling back the curtain on its ground-breaking health data collection by hosting its annual All of Us Research Convention. On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, and Thursday, April 4, 2024, the free virtual conference will give attendees insight into how All of Us data is being used to fuel integral research that reflects the diverse country we live in. All of Us, created by the National Institutes of Health, is a historic effort to collect and study data from at least one million people living in the United States. “The goal of All of Us is to speed up health research discoveries, enabling new kinds of individualized health care, with a strong emphasis on diversity,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, an All ...

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