A lot of political experts predict Latino voters will decide who will be the next president of the United States. In November 2016 Latino millennials (44%) will account for nearly half of all Latino eligible voters projected for 2016, according to Pew Research Center. Data shows the median age of the 35 million U.S. born Latinos is only 19. “Latino youth will be the main driver of growth among Latino eligible voters over the next two decades. Between 2012 and 2016, about 3.2 million young U.S.-citizen Latinos will have advanced to adulthood and become eligible to vote,” Pew Research said in a written statement. According to Pew the number of eligible Latino voters has climbed from 5 percent in 1986 to 11.4 percent in ...
A new report from the Heartland Alliance’s Social IMPACT Research Center has uncovered that racial disparities persist in Illinois across a wide-spectrum of quality-of-life measures. Across Illinois, nearly 2 million live in poverty, representing nearly 14% of the overall population. For Latinos, the numbers are somewhat higher, with 19.9% of the population living in poverty. According to the report, the Illinois school districts with the highest numbers of minority students receive 16% less a year in funding than other districts with fewer minority students. Racial and ethnic minority Illinoisans are 2-3 times less likely to have health insurance. Also, poor Latinos are more likely to live within a mile of a hazardous chemical facility compared to poor whites. “The consistency ...
Derek Dimas, a registered nurse had a fun idea to get kids to eat healthier. Believing that kids needed a fun and positive environment to learn about fruits and vegetables, he invented a program called "Fun with Fruits." While in their physical education classes, students within the Corpus Christi School district learn how to create easy-to-make fruit and veggie kabobs. Dimas also invites parents to attend the classes, hoping to inspire healthy eating for the whole family. In a recent article, Dimas explained the need for this type of program, "I felt moved because these kids may not outlive their parents because of obesity. I've heard of three-year-olds with diabetes and young people with heart disease," he said. Dimas spends his own money to provide the fruits, vegetables, ...
Eagle Mountain Elementary School, in Ft. Worth, TX (34.1% Latino), is tripling their time for recess, from 20 minutes to one hour, during the 2015-2016 school year as part of a project to model the Finnish school system. The project’s designer is Texas Christian University kinesiologist Debbie Rhea. She recognized that not only do Finnish students consistently score at or near the top in international education rankings, but that Finnish students also get more time for recess than American kids. Recess will be four times a day for 15-minutes. Teachers were concerned about losing classroom time at first, but see that kids are fidgeting less, more focused, and learning more. “If you want a child to be attentive and stay on task, and also if you want them to encode the ...
Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2015 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for 2016. Patricia Medina-Ramirez Tampa, Florida Just as her Guida instrument represents her roots in the Dominican Republic, Patricia Medina-Ramirez is dedicated to learning about the culture and the community she works in. Cultural competency is key for her as she begins to focus on Latino health issues, such as her work exploring the experience of Latino cancer survivors. Despite moving from the Dominican Republic at age 15, Patricia was the first member in her family to pursue a graduate education, and potentially a doctoral degree. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences, with a minor in Public Health, from the University of ...
New research suggests, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death among Latinos in the U.S. A new study attempted to uncover the data regarding the prevalence of cancer and the risk factors that affect Latinos. Over 16,000 Latinos participated in the study and it was found that 4% of the population had instances of some type of cancer. The rates of cancer varied by Hispanic ancestry group. Overall, the lack of significant findings regarding risk factors, such as smoking, contributed to the findings of the survey. With the prevalence of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a growing number of Latinos now have access to healthcare. As more and more Latinos take part in this healthcare, this will give future evaluations of cancer prevalence more data to sort from. This ...
Cancer is the No.1 killer of U.S. Latinos, accounting for 22% of deaths. Prostate cancer (22%) and breast cancer (29%) are among the most common types of cancer afflicting Latinos. While in some instances cancers are genetically inherited in the majority of cases, they’re preventable with a good diet and plenty of exercise. Here are top cancer-fighting superfoods, according to Health: 1. Berries
Berries are packed with phytonutrients, especially black berries which contain a high concentration of phytochemicals called anthocyanins “which slow down growth of premalignant cells and keep new blood vessels from forming (and potentially feeding a cancerous tumor).” 2. Walnuts
Phytosrerois—cholesterol like molecules “have been shown to block estrogen receptors in ...
A webinar focusing on a new report from Healthy Eating Research will be presented on Wednesday, February 10th 2016, at 12pm CST. Healthy Eating Research is a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that supports research on environmental and policy strategies that have strong potential to promote healthy eating among children. The free, 1 hour webinar will be on Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores. Presenters include Professors and Research Assistants of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Tracy Fox, President of Food, Nutrition & Policy Consultants, LLC. To learn more and sign up for the webinar, click ...
Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2015 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for 2016. Rose A. Treviño-Whitaker
Houston, Texas Unpaved roads. Lack of proper sewage. Inadequate water. Rose A. Treviño-Whitaker grew up among these third-world conditions that plague some colonias—mostly Latino unincorporated settlements in South Texas. That’s why she dedicated her career to preventing disease and promoting public health as a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Born in the Valley of South Texas Rose is a high achiever and already up to her eyeballs in cancer research and health promotion. Rose has also helped create culturally relevant educational ...
