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 ...
Forty-five years after the passage of President Richard Nixon's National Cancer Act, President Barack Obama introduced the Cancer Moonshot and the All of Us Research Program as the next steps in cancer research and treatment. Both have the strong potential to forever alter the landscape of understanding cancer. However, what does the Cancer Moonshot mean for minorities? A new editorial co-authored by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, addresses this specific question. The editorial, published in the journal Cancer Causes & Control, notes the persistence of cancer health disparities. Latinos, African Americans, and other groups differ in cancer incidence reporting, treatment, prognoses, and mortality compared to Whites. African ...
The streetcar is back along the Texas-Mexico border, thanks to a Latino man's brilliant "fake" ad campaign. Peter Svarzbein, an El Paso native, loved how a historic international streetcar system used to connect downtown El Paso, Texas (82.2% Latino) to downtown Cuidad Juárez, Mexico. But it closed in 1974. Today many in El Paso lack public transportation to reach places they need to go, which harms their health, educational, and employment opportunities, and the economy. So Svarzbein created a fictional, yet powerful ad campaign to simulate the return of El Paso's border-crossing streetcar for his graduate thesis project at New York's School for Visual Arts. Svarzbein's El Paso Transnational Trolley Project sparked enough curiosity and enthusiasm to create a real ...
Latinos are dynamic, culturally rich, and the largest racial/ethnic minority in the United States. But they simply don't have the support they need for good health. Latinos often face big obstacles like a lack of health insurance and access to quality care. They lack good jobs and high wages. Their children have fewer opportunities for early care and education than their peers, which causes a lag in cognitive development. To address these concerns, Salud America! will unveil its new research review, "Building Support for Latino Families," to start a conversation about solutions at the #SaludTues Tweetchat on Tuesday, October 17. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Family & Social Support for Latinos”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017
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There is a near-perfect way to predict a child's educational and health future. A mother's education. Sadly, Latinas have the lowest high school graduation rates and some of the lowest college completion rates of all women, according to a new report. The report, Fulfilling America’s Future: Latinas in the U.S., 2015, is an exploration of the state of Latinas by Patricia Gándara, research professor and co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, and the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics. "As a group, Latinas begin school significantly behind other females and without adequate resources and supports, they are never able to catch up to their peers," according to the report. So, how can Latinas catch up?
The State of U.S. Latinas
One in five ...
As if Latino immigrant parents didn’t face enough worry—hostile political climate, wage gaps, lack of access to health care—a new “stressor” is on the rise. Bullying of immigrant children is, sadly, common these days. More than 50 incidents of white students using politics to bully Latino and other minority children have been reported in 26 states, BuzzFeed reports. Feeling a need to help, the nonprofit Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors has released a bilingual video to show Latino immigrant parents how to help their children who are victims of bullying. “At the start of the year, we were inundated with calls from concerned parents who were desperate for information on … how to keep their families safe,” said Sandra Gutierrez, founder and national director for ...
Latino communities are getting help to tackle obesity and mental illness, thanks to $5 million in new grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH). The money is for 15 local groups from across the country. The groups will use the money to drive solutions among Latino and other minority populations that suffer higher burdens of obesity, mental illness, and opioid addiction. “We selected the opioid crisis, childhood obesity and serious mental illness as our top three clinical priorities at HHS because they are three of the country’s most pressing public health concerns,” said Dr. Tom Price, HHS leader, in a news release.
Who Will Help Latinos?
The 15 groups include several in Latino-populated areas: Mariposa ...
What happened when 10 teachers in Wisconsin committed to take their elementary students outside one day a week to explore and play in nature? The students studied the natural world, learned other lessons, and got physical activity outside. Successful outdoor education! "Playing outside is different socially, emotionally and physically than what happens in the classroom," one of the teachers told the the Wisconsin State Journal.
Why Is Outdoor Education Good for Kids?
Outdoor teaching and recess during school can improve students' learning, and much more. It can boost physical, mental, and emotional health, particularly for Latino kids who don't get as much time for physical activity during the school day. It also can foster a desire to conserve and preserve green space ...
Salud America! Guest Blogger
Jefferson Dental Care The key to a long, healthy life isn’t fame or fortune. It's right under your nose...it's your mouth! Poor dental health—cavities, tooth loss, and gum disease—are a big problem for many Latinos ages 65 and older. In fact, Latino seniors have among the highest rates of no remaining teeth (25%) and untreated tooth decay (40%). And that's not all.
Mouth in Bad Health = Body in Bad Health
Poor dental health isn't just bad for your teeth as you age. Dental issues are linked to diabetes, cancers and heart disease, which are each more prevalent among Latinos than the overall population. Inflammation in the body also translates in the mouth, and Latino seniors who suffer from diabetes are also likely to heal less rapidly ...
