A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute that, while the economy has bounced back from the Great Recession, new college and high school graduates, especially minorities such as Latinos, will still have a difficult time dealing with unemployment, underemployment, and living wages. A detailed study looked at the economic outlook for the Class of 2016. Despite officially ending in 2009, the Great Recession had a lasting effect on the employment prospects of young people. The recession left millions unemployed for prolonged stretches of time. The slow recovery has meant that eight classes of graduates have entered into a very weak labor market and have had to compete with more-experienced workers for limited job opportunities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there ...
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has officially helped move the FDA to publish sodium-reduction targets for 150 categories of packaged and restaurant foods. The CSPI group explained in a recent article that the average American consumes almost twice as much as the recommended federal dietary guidelines of sodium daily. CSPI hopes that these new reductions of excess sodium in foods will help prevent billions in health care costs and save lives from preventable heart attacks and strokes. To learn more about this healthy change in foods, click here to read the full CSPI report. Copy & Share on Twitter: Good News! @US_FDA issues voluntary sodium reduction targets! Thanks @CSPI #BetterFoods! ...
Zika virus. A $73 billion debt crisis. Puerto Rico has been in the news a lot lately, but what's the truth about health in this unincorporated U.S. territory with a 99% Hispanic population? Our friends at the Kaiser Family Foundation put together a fantastic 8-part Q&A about Puerto Rico, including several health indicators. Here are some key takeaways: People are older. The percentage of adults age 65 and older rose 22% from 2006-2014. People have worse health overall. About 35% of adults in Puerto Rico report fair or poor general health, compared to 18% in the U.S. They also have higher HIV rates. More people have health insurance. Less people are uninsured in Puerto Rico (6%) than in the U.S. (12%). But almost half are covered by Medicaid due to high poverty, ...
SaludToday Guest Blogger
Jim Vogel
ElderAction Physical activity plays a huge role in mental health, particularly as you age. Though aging takes a toll on your body, it’s no excuse to become sedentary. Aging does not prevent exercise; it simply means you need to find new ways to do it. Here are a few ways Latinos can stay active and keep their minds healthy during retirement.
Daily or Weekly Walking Groups
A popular way for seniors to exercise is joining walking groups. Seniors that live close together can get together and schedule regular neighborhood strolls. These walks are a great reason to leave the home and be social. Studies are finding that morning walks are extremely beneficial for mental health while the group aspect is perfect for seniors who often ...
Working together, local government and non-profits in Santa Barbara, Calif. (43.74% Latino) are redesigning the food environment to focus on health and sustainability. According to a local article, over half of county residents are overweight or obese, and face difficulties in access to healthy foods, affordable housing, health care and more. A Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) report on health behavior shows that over 70% of adults or 214,354 adults over the age of eighteen within the county have inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption- consuming less than five servings of fruit and vegetables each day. "Population growth in the county is expected to increase by 100,000 people", Sigrid Wright of the Community Environmental Council told the Pacific Coast Business Times, ...
For those living with it or have members of their family that have the disease, understanding diabetes is important because it can cause serious, life-threatening complications if goes uncontrolled; however, diabetes is also a disease that allows people to live a “normal” life if it is managed well. The National Diabetes Statistics Report determined that nearly 30 million Americans have diabetes, which means that nearly every tenth person is affected by the disease. Studies have also proven that it is the seventh leading cause of death; those who do not die directly from diabetes may find that their life expectancy has been reduced by several years. According to several national surveys, Latinos are nearly twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes by a ...
SaludToday Guest Blogger
Susan Fisher-Owens, MD, MPH, FAAP, Campaign for Dental Health To eat healthy and nutritious foods, it helps to have healthy teeth! Did you know that your child’s doctor can help with that? Hispanic children have more tooth decay in their baby teeth and permanent teeth than white non-Hispanic children. And that decay is more likely to be more severe and to go untreated. The good news is that it’s easy to protect teeth. Fluoride, in the form of fluoridated toothpaste, fluoridated water and fluoride varnish, works to not only prevent dental caries, but even to reverse early signs of decay. Here is what you need to know. Fluoride varnish is a concentrated form of toothpaste that is brushed onto your child’s teeth by someone working in the ...
Researchers at the newly created Women’s Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University have started a four-year, $3.7 million study to look at the link between sedentary habits and cardiovascular health among Hispanic and Latino women over 55. The study is funded by the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women Strategically Focused Network. The study will recruit 250 Latino women to track their sitting and analyze their cholesterol, blood sugar, and other bio-markers related to cardiovascular health. Investigators will also analyze data collected from 400 women who participated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a long-term survey of more than 16,000 U.S. Latinos. Although worldwide research ...
Soda taxes may not be the only way to help consumers choose healthier beverages in Philadelphia, now a new tax proposal may help corner stores look at healthier beverages in a different light. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown purposed to a new "healthy beverages tax credit" to allow corner stores to get a tax break for stocking more healthier beverages into their corner stores. The tax would give a tax credit against their business taxes for what they spend on healthy beverages for one year and the difference for the next year's expenses, benefiting stores like delis, pharmacies, and corner stores that stock healthy beverages versus the common sugar-based sweeteners of high-fructose corn syrup. According to a recent article, Brown hopes the tax will encourage more consumption ...
