This is part of our Building Support for Latino Families: A Research Review »
Addressing Latino Subpopulations
This research review has emphasized several policies and programs that could benefit Latino families as a whole. However, it is important to point out that future research will need to: Determine how programs need to be catered to fit the different Latino subpopulations that they serve across the United States;
Carefully assess community needs and the initiation of collaborations with community leaders, stakeholders, and activists for development of contextually appropriate policies that will be successful in the target population; and
Continue reviewing and assessing the inclusion of cultural considerations that will allow final adaptation of programs into a ...
This is part of our Building Support for Latino Families: A Research Review »
The Growth of Head Start
Given the evidence to support the benefit of organized early childhood education, development of high-quality ECE centers that also promote engagement of Latino parents holds great promise for the future of Latino children. Many programs from the 1960s and on provide evidence for the effectiveness of incorporating parent-targeted elements within early childcare programs, and these family-based approaches form the basis for the two-generation model discussed later in this review. The first explicit family-based program was Head Start, which in 1965 declared the goal of providing low-income preschool children a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, ...
This is part of our Building Support for Latino Families: A Research Review »
Conclusions More than one-third of Latino families live in poverty and two-thirds are low-income, and face limited access to high-quality education, community resources, and health care.
Latino children excel in cognitive and social development measures when they participate in high-quality center-based early childhood education and public pre-K programs.
Single-site ECE and infant care centers partnered with family resource centers offer the highest-impact outcomes for low-income Latino children and parents.
Parent resources in two-generation programs must focus on services that aid parents in finding high quality jobs with family-supporting wages. Efforts to minimize the toxic stress associated ...
This is part of our Building Support for Latino Families: A Research Review »
Latino Families Lack Access to Healthcare
Due to high costs, Latinos are less likely to participate in insurance or retirement plans, even if offered by their employers.100 Although the percentage of Latinos with no health care coverage dropped from 26.2% to 15.1% from 2013 to 2016 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is still much higher than the percent drop among uninsured non-Latino white from 14.1% to 6.6% in that same span, according to a report.101 Latinos also continued to perform worse on most measures of access to and utilization of their health care than whites, often due to reasons like citizenship status, language, socioeconomic status, and a lack of awareness of the ACA's provisions, ...
This is part of our Building Support for Latino Families: A Research Review »
Introduction
Latinos are expected to comprise 32% of the U.S. population by 2050.1 As such, the strength and health of this country’s future workforce depends upon the investments made in Latino communities today. Currently, one-third of U.S. Latino families live in poverty and two-thirds are low-income, with limited access to high-quality education, community resources, and health care.2,3 Recent research has shown that social programs targeting adults as well as children result in the most effective long-term improvements in children’s academic success, health, and future economic stability.4 Thus whole-family support services that address the specific social, medical, and economic needs of ...
Nutrition education—when it's accessible—can help low-income Latino and all families eat healthier. Four innovative projects used text messages, online programs, and other technologies to boost the reach and impact of nutrition education among participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) federal food assistance program. In each project, technology made nutrition education more accessible and useful. "Technology appears to have an impact on keeping our families in the program," said Dr. Shannon Whaley of UCLA, which led one of the studies. "This use of technology matters, and it is where WIC probably needs to go."
Why Is Nutrition Education a Big Deal?
Latinos tend to lack access to healthy food, according to a Salud America! Research Review. One big way ...
Latinos are the nation's second-largest population group—yet they continue to be dramatically undercounted. More than 400,000 Latino children younger than 4 were not counted in the 2010 U.S. Census, according to a recent report from the Child Trends Hispanic Institute and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. With the 2020 Census looming, an accurate count of Latinos is critical to ensure they get the right number of representatives in government and a fair share of funding for educational programs, healthcare, and law enforcement, as well as new schools and roads.
The U.S. Census Count
The U.S. Census Bureau counts every resident in the U.S. every 10 years, per Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The data ...
U.S. obesity has reached an all-time high, with overall adult obesity rates surpassing 40% and childhood obesity rates surpassing 20%, according to new CDC data. The news is especially bad for Latinos. Latino adults were more obese (47%) than their black (46.8%), white (37.9%), and Asian (12.7%) peers. Latino children also were more obese (25.8%) than their black (22%), white (14.1%), and Asian (11%) peers. It means 1 in 4 Latino are now obese, regardless of age, according to the new data. “We know the basics of supply and demand help people eat healthier and move more,” said Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Chief Medical Officer for Prevention at the American Heart Association, in a statement. “It will take a massive push from the food and beverage industry to increase the ...
About 15% of U.S. Latinos had a diagnosable mental illness in the past year—that's enough people to fill New York City. How can this population achieve healthier minds? A healthy diet is, not surprisingly, a great first step. In fact, good nutrition protects against depression and anxiety; poor nutrition is a risk factor for those conditions, according to an emerging field of research. "By helping people shape their diets, we can improve their mental health and decrease their risk of psychiatric disorders," Dr. Drew Ramsey of Columbia University told WebMD.
The State of Mental Health
Only about 1 in 5 Americans consider themselves in optimal mental health. Depression afflicts more than a quarter adults. By 2020, depression will rank as the second-leading cause of ...
