Latino Childhood Development Research: Future Needs

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This is part of the Salud America! The State of Latino Early Childhood Development: A Research Review »

Latino early childhood development - policy - better foodFurther research is needed to identify the barriers to healthy eating in Latino children and evaluate current and new strategies for improving access and adherence to a healthy diet.

Studies should also aim to identify the determinants of ACEs in Latino families and evaluate interventions for preventing ACEs and/or mitigating their harmful effects. The use of administrative data, such as Medicaid claims and other service records, may be useful for these studies and may help to target prevention and early intervention for children with or at risk of ACEs. More research is needed to identify the barriers to and predictors of mental health service use among Latino youth and develop the necessary assessment and counseling tools to identify at-risk Latino youth.

More research is needed to identify the barriers to preschool participation and in-home preliteracy activities to inform the development of targeted in-home interventions to improve school readiness in Latino children.

Latino early childhood development - policy - preschool and eceAdditionally, further research is needed to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of existing preschool programs, such as Head Start, REDI, and MSRP, especially for Latino children, since this information is currently lacking. Finally, more research is needed to determine parent and teacher qualities that lead to educational success in Latino children and to evaluate strategies that promote the development of these qualities in Latino parents and teachers who teach Latino children.

Accurate census data is also critical to ensure equitable distribution of funding for early educational programs, healthcare, safe places to walk and play, access to healthy food, and maternal and breastfeeding support.

More from our The State of Latino Early Childhood Development: A Research Review »

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By The Numbers By The Numbers

142

Percent

Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years

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