Easter Sunday is just a few days away! If you’re like many Latino families then you will most likely have a barbacoa in the park and spend quality time with los abuelos, tios y primos. Unfortunately, vegetables and carnitas are not the only foods we eat on Easter Sunday—especially our children. A regular chocolate bunny packs a whopping 20g of sugar! Over 30% of Latino children in the U.S. are obese/overweight (which contributes to cancer) and binging on candy on Easter Sunday will not make them any healthier. Here are 3 ideas on how your children can have a blast on Easter Sunday and stay healthy: Toys instead of candy: Do something different this year and instead of giving your children and sobrinos candy in their Easter baskets give them small toys! Tasty ...
Although fewer Americans overall are dying from heart disease than 40 years ago, researchers have found that the top “hotbeds” for heart disease have migrated to the Southern U.S. In the 1970s, the counties with the highest heart disease rates were clustered in the northeast, according to a new study, HealthDay reports. Now, they are concentrated in what is considered the “deep” South, a region where the Latino population is large. The U.S. southwest, for example, is by far the most Latino region of the country, but the entire Latino population is booming in the South, according to a report. The study has not determined the causes for the shift, only the trend. “[From] other studies we know the socioeconomic conditions of a county can affect rates of smoking and ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) recently released an interactive map that illustrates disparities in chronic diseases geographically for Medicare beneficiaries. The Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool can identify disparities in health outcomes, utilization, and spending by race, ethnicity, and geographic location. “Our commitment to health equity begins with properly measuring the care people get and having an honest dialogue on how and where we need to improve,” said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. “Today’s tool aims to make it harder for disparities to go unaddressed.” Understanding the geographic differences in certain disparities is important for a number of reasons. This understanding helps to inform ...
Today, March 23, marks the 6th anniversary of the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law by President Barack Obama. An estimated 20 million people have gained health insurance since the ACA went into law in 2010. Latinos have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of the ACA; in 2014, an estimated 8 in 10 uninsured Latinos qualified for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), or lower costs on monthly premiums through the Health Insurance Marketplace. The ACA is providing the tools to help transform our health care system to one of better care, smarter spending and healthier people. More than 6 million uninsured young adults have gained health insurance coverage since 2010. For Latinos, 4.2 million between the ages of 18-64 gained health insurance ...
Latino kids face dire rates of obesity, diabetes, and related conditions. Can you be a Salud Leader for kids? Salud America!, a Latino childhood obesity prevention network, is recruiting Salud Leaders to join a national movement to start and support healthy changes in communities and schools. A Salud Leader is a parent, school personnel, or community leader who drives healthy changes like working to unlock playgrounds for use after school hours, pushing for healthier food options, starting a farmers market, removing sugary drinks from daycares, etc. If you sign up, you get (for free): A spot on our national Salud Leader map.
The ability to connect with other local leaders and see trending policies and stories.
Customized data about the health issues in your area (a ...
Latino kids need your HELP! Over 39% of Latino kids are overweight or obese in the U.S., and many have poor access to fresh fruits and vegetables and face rising diabetes rates. Let’s tweet about what you can do to become a Salud Leader for Latino kids! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: How YOU Can Be a “Salud Leader” for Latino Kids”
TIME/DATE: Noon CST (1 p.m. EST) Tuesday, March 22, 2016
WHERE: On Twitter #SaludTues
HOST: SaludToday (@SaludToday)
CO-HOSTS: Community Commons (@CommunityCommon) & Moms Rising (@MomsRising) Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter! #SaludTues is a weekly Tweetchat about Latino health at 12p CST/1p ET every Tuesday and hosted by @SaludToday, the Latino health social media campaign for ...
March 16 is National Kick Butts Day—a day for kids and teens to take a stand against smoking. According to national data, 95% of smokers began smoking before turning 21 and more than 11% of Latino adults are current smokers. How can you raise awareness? Join the movement today by sharing your story on social media using #IKickButts and check out the live gallery of leaders kicking ...
A new study reveals that a whopping 60% of what we eat in the U.S. is considered "junk food" loaded with fat, salt, and sugar that we’re not supposed to eat, NBC Health reports. The study reports that this is evidence of why two-thirds of Americans and why 60% of Latinos in the U.S. are overweight or obese. "The most common ultra-processed foods in terms of energy contribution were breads, soft drinks, fruit drinks, and milk-based drinks; cakes, cookies, and pies; salty snacks; frozen and shelf-stable plates; pizza and breakfast cereals," Dr. Carlos Augusto Monteiro of the University of São Paulo and colleagues there, and at Tufts University in Boston, wrote in their report. The study found that just under 650 calories of the average 2,000 calorie-a-day-diet were from fruits ...
A new study found that moderate-intensity dancing can lower a person's risk of dying from heart disease, which disproportionately affects Latinos, Reuters reports. The study included questions about frequency, duration, and intensity of dancing and walking over a four-week period. Only about 3,100 of the 48,000 people surveyed reported dancing of any intensity, and nearly two-thirds said they walked at any intensity. In the study's follow-up, heart disease had caused 1,714 deaths. People who reported moderate-intensity dancing and walking were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who did not. “It is not surprising that moderate-intensity physical activity is protective against cardiovascular disease mortality,” lead author Dafna Merom of the University ...