Infant nutrition experts Norma Sifuentes and Diana Montano have promoted breastfeeding for 30 years combined in San Antonio, Texas (63.2% Latino). The two women, employees of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District’s Women, Infants and Children (SAMHD-WIC) department, know that breastfeeding duration rates are low here. Less breastfeeding means more risk of obesity, diabetes, and lower IQs. So Sifuentes and Montano worked together to create a place—a haven—to help low-income Latina and all mothers access breastfeeding support and peer counseling.
Why isn't breastfeeding more prominent?
The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. For babies, it reduces risk of infectious diseases, asthma, atopic dermatitis, childhood leukemia, diabetes, obesity and sudden infant ...
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) came into law, millions of Americans have obtained coverage. Millions also no longer face denials or higher costs because of their medical histories. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that, between 2010 and 2014, the share of uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions fell by 22%. “Today, thanks to Affordable Care Act protections, the uninsured rate is at its lowest level in history and millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions like asthma or cancer no longer have to worry about being denied coverage because of their medical history,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell in a statement. “This is clear and measurable progress, and we shouldn’t turn the clock back to a time when people were denied ...
After Nikki Van Strien delivered her first son in Mesa, Ariz. (30.5% Latino), she realized the discharge package given to all new moms by the hospital could undermine a woman’s breastfeeding goals by pushing formula. She wanted to do something to support breastfeeding moms immediately after delivery. In 2011, Van Strien and some other moms developed the AZ Breastfeeding Bag Project to provide all new breastfeeding mothers with a bag filled with educational material and breastfeeding supply samples. They became a non-profit and recruited volunteers and donations to reach new mothers birthing in the hospital, birth center, or home.
Breastfeeding Rates Low in Arizona
Nikki Van Strien, a new mom in Mesa, Ariz., wanted to connect with other moms for support. She joined a local group she ...
Sodas, although not as popular in the United States as before are still consumed daily at high levels in many communities, especially in minority communities. In fact, studies show Latino teens kids have increased their consumption of sugary drinks such as soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit-flavored drinks and flavored milk between 1991 and 2008. Unfortunately, regular consumers of sugary beverages have a 26% higher risk of type 2 diabetes and now a current study from Tufts University reveals that consumers who drink around six 12-ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages a week have a 46% increased risk of developing pre-diabetes, not including other factors. The information for the Tufts study looked at over 14 years of data of nearly 1,600 middle-aged adults and was obtained from the ...
U.S. Latinos are especially vulnerable to health threats posed by climate change because of where they live, work and lack access to health care, according to a new report. The report, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), is an English and Spanish review of dozens of U.S. studies and reports on the health and economic impacts that Latinos face as a result of climate change. Results include: A majority live in California, Texas, Florida and New York, states that are among the most affected by extreme heat, air pollution, and flooding.
Latinos are heavily represented in crop and livestock production and construction, where they’re at elevated risk from climate-change-boosted extreme heat. They are three times more likely to die on the job from excessive heat ...
San Antonio’s Eastside Promise Neighborhood (EPN) is a community of about 18,000 residents (67.5% Latino) who face many health disparities driven by socioeconomic inequities in income, education and access to health care. Noemi Villarreal and others at EPN sought ways to improve health care and health equity in the area. To do that, they looked for ways to promote the idea of the “medical home,” in which the patient/family is the center of partnerships with primary care providers, specialists, educational resources, and the entire community. They formed a group of dedicated "Community Connectors" to travel the neighborhood and do whatever was necessary to promote development of a medical home for every home.
Addressing issues in San Antonio
Noemi Villarreal, health ...
Are people in your city physically inactive? Community leaders in largely Latino San Antonio knew people weren't active enough, and had high risk of heart disease, diabetes, asthma, stroke, depression, stress, and more. So the city's Parks and Recreation Department helped launch Fit Pass and Fitness in the Park—two accessible, affordable strategies to attract Latino and all residents to be active at local parks and improve their mental and physical health. The city's excited progress is featured in a new Rivard Report article and Salud Heroes story by Amanda Merck of Salud America!, a national Latino childhood obesity prevention network based at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. For Fitness in the Park, city health worker Pete Garcia and his team developed a plan ...
An investment as little as $10 per person per year in evidenced-based, community prevention programs, such as those that increase physical activity and improve nutrition, could create health care savings of more than $16 billion annually within five years. In 2012, the Massachusetts (11.2% Latino) became the first state to use a wellness trust as an effort to reduce health care costs by preventing chronic conditions when the Massachusetts Legislature established the Prevention and Wellness Trust (PWTF) through a one time assessment on acute hospitals and payers, totaling $57 million. The Trust supports nine community-based partnerships, including municipalities, clinical organizations, healthcare systems, community-based organizations, businesses, regional planning organizations, ...
Guest Blogger: Dr.Qadira Ali Huff, Campaign for Dental Health Poverty weaves a complex web of problems for children and families. The burden of dental disease/cavities/tooth decay, which is/are more common than allergies or asthma, falls disproportionately on low-income, minority, and immigrant children (1). Given that more black and Hispanic children live in poverty, these children experience double layers of risk to their oral health. Low-income children have five times more untreated cavities than children from higher income families (2). Children with poor oral health miss school and can’t concentrate when they are in pain. Parents must miss work to care for children with dental pain, potentially jeopardizing employment. And people with mouth pain can’t get the ...
