Here's an interesting fact: the more education you have, the longer your lifespan can be. In recent years, Latinos have made tremendous progress in education. High school graduation rates are up while dropout rates are down. Latino students are also enrolling in two- and four-year colleges in greater numbers than ever before. That is the good news. Now, the not-so-good.
Education: Good News vs. Bad News
Latinos, despite their progress, continue to fall behind their white and black peers. In 2016, 45% of all Latinos had at least some college education, up from 35% in 1992, according to the new “Latino Education and Economic Progress: Running Faster but Still Behind” report from the Center on Education and the Workforce. However, the college education gap between Latinos ...
Texas (39.1% Latino population) is launching five Outdoor Learning Environment demonstration sites across the state, three of which are at early childcare centers. This is great news for many Latino students across the state. Currently, children today can spend 8-10 hours a day in childcare. However, like many Latino-majority schools, childcare facilities offer less time for kids to play and be active. As early as age four, Latino children face gaps in academic performance and disparities in obesity. Latino kids need safe places to play and be active to reduce obesity and boost academic achievement.
Naturalize Outdoor Playgrounds
Play – particularly play in nature – is critical for healthy child development. Nature supports creative problem solving, enhances cognitive ...
Abuse. Neglect. Poverty. Household dysfunction. Latino kids are more likely than their peers to suffer these kinds of "adverse childhood experiences." This can hinder children's healthy development, school readiness, and overall health and wellness in many ways. To drive solutions, Salud America! will unveil a new research review, "The State of Latino Early Childhood Development," at the #SaludTues Tweetchat on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, to start a conversation about new ways to reduce childhood trauma and boost healthy development. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Early Childhood Development and Latino Kids”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: Zero to Three (@ZEROTOTHREE); Cero A ...
Salud America! Guest Blogger
Denise Rosales, P.E. Teacher, Mission Collegiate High School, Mission, Texas At Mission Collegiate High School, nestled on the Mexican border, we’re more than just a school. We’re a close-knit family who believes that health is the foundation of life, so we take care of one another’s well-being. Together, our 45 staff and 435 students helped Mission Collegiate earn a spot on the Alliance for Healthier Generation’s 2017 America’s Healthiest Schools list, for the second year in a row! We’re particularly proud of our achievement because nearly 100 percent of our students are Hispanic and economically disadvantaged, and the majority are either first-generation high school or college students. Our staff understand the positive effect good ...
Pediatricians play a big role in a child's health. But not in the way you might think. Treating flu and other illnesses is only 10% of what makes a person healthy. The rest is genetics (20%), environment (20%), and daily behaviors (50%). That's why it's so important for pediatricians to engage parents and kids to improve daily behaviors—like reading to young children and playing outside—especially among Latinos who have limited safe places to play and early educational gaps. Two amazing reading programs are doing just that.
Reach Out and Read
Latinos often enter kindergarten developmentally behind their non-Latino peers, Salud America! research shows. For example, as early as age four, children in low-income families hear 30 million fewer words than than their middle and ...
"You Matter." "You are Brave." "You are Enough." These three phrases are the highlights of a big, bright, colorful mural completed earlier in October by Denver artists Pat Milbery and Jason Graves to help drive mental health awareness and bust stigma. The mural is part of Kaiser Permanente's “Find Your Words” campaign. The campaign encourages people suffering from depression or who know someone dealing with it to find the courage to talk. The campaign is led by Kaiser alongside the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Crisis Text Line and Mental Health America. The campaign launched in four states with social media and a resource website with an interactive forum on mental health issues.
The Reason for the ...
Everything is bigger in Texas. Especially “mums”—those big, flashy, expensive corsages of colorful streamers, bells, and trinkets that students wear for homecoming high-school football games. Dawn Lee, a parent in Hickory Creek, Texas, has made and sold mums for years. “God gives us all a unique talent and apparently, mine is knowing how and where to put the bling on an oversized corsage,” Lee said. Lee recently decided to put her mum-making talent toward a good cause. She had a question after seeing students and family members struggle with mental health issues: How could mums really help students talk about mental health? Her answer: “Mindful Mums.”
Addressing Youth Mental Health Stigma
Lee has become increasingly aware of youth mental health ...
Sadly, Latino parents are less engaged in their child's education. So what happened when a program helped Latino dads read books together with their young kids? The Latino dads' parenting skills jumped 30%. The Latino children's language development and school readiness jumped 30%, too. These amazing results come from a New York University study that engaged 126 low-income, Spanish-speaking fathers and their Head Start children in shared book reading and a parent training over eight weeks. "Our study finds that it is possible to engage fathers from low-income communities in parenting interventions, which benefits both the fathers and their children,” said study leader Dr. Anil Chacko of NYU Steinhardt.
Gaps in Latino Child Literacy
Preliteracy gaps are seen in Latino ...
More than 17 million U.S. kids and adults, including a rising number of Latinos, have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). So what exactly is ADHD? Who gets ADHD? How can you tell if your child has this mental condition? How is it treated? We at Salud America! are excited to share some answers during ADHD Awareness Month in October.
What is ADHD?
ADHD is a brain disorder characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, according to the Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). Yes, everybody can have difficulty sitting still or paying attention. We make rash, impulsive decisions on occasion. But for others, these behaviors are so pervasive and persistent that they interfere ...
