Stressed-out and down this holiday season? You might have the "holiday blues." These are temporary feelings of depression associated with the extra stress, financial constraints, and unrealistic expectations of the season. These can harm long-term mental health. You might have "seasonal affective disorder." This is a seasonal depression that happens at the same time every year as the season change, such as the bleak wintertime months. These conditions are especially worrisome for people who suffer high rates of mental health issues. Latinos, for example, already face higher rates of depressive symptoms than many of their peers. Fewer Latinos than whites say their child had ever used mental health care services, according to a Salud America! research review. So what can you ...
Latino and all parents are purchasing fast food for their children more frequently in recent years, while 75% of kids meals still come with an unhealthy drink or side, according to a recent study by the UCONN Rudd Center for Food and Obesity. Fast-food consumption is linked to poor diet quality in youth. The new study examined parents’ reported fast-food purchases for their children ages 2-11 and changes over time, in light of several fast-food restaurants recently adopting policies to offer healthier drinks and/or sides with their kids’ meals. Parents were surveyed in 2010, 2013, and 2016 about fast-food purchases at McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, or Subway. The 2016 survey also covered KFC, Dairy Queen, and Panera Bread. The findings are unsettling.
Findings: ...
Foreign-born immigrants in U.S. rural borderlands are plagued by poverty, stress, discrimination and lack of access to adequate healthcare, according to a new study by the University of California Riverside. These inequities jeopardize their mental and physical health. “While the research focused on Latino immigrants in Southern California, our findings tell us a lot about structural level factors and daily life events and chronic strain that create stress for minorities and immigrants in rural communities,” Ann Cheney, lead researcher and an assistant professor in the Center for Healthy Communities at UC Riverside, said in a press release.
Rural Health as a Health Disparity
The South Eastern Coachella Valley is home to predominantly low-income Mexican farmworking ...
Late onset diabetes may be a sign of pancreatic cancer in Latinos and African-Americans, according to a new study. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, linked recent-onset diabetes with a 2.3-fold greater increase in risk of pancreatic cancer than long-standing diabetes. Latinos have higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and pancreatic cancer than their peers.
Study Results & Implications
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal cancers. It has a five-year survival rate of only 8%. This is because eight in 10 pancreatic cancer patients get diagnosed at a late stage. Most diabetes patients with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed with diabetes less than three years before the cancer diagnosis. Among pancreatic cancer patients undergoing ...
Did you know Latino kids consume more sugary drinks than the average kid? Finally, there's some good news for Latino and all kids and families in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted to uphold the city's sweetened beverage tax in July 2018. The tax is the first of its kind in a big city. It aims to reduce sugary drink consumption and raise funds for health and education. “Today’s Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of Philadelphia’s sweetened beverage tax is a major victory for the city’s children and families," wrote Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, in a statement.
The Philly Sweetened Beverage Tax
Sugary drinks—soda, sports and energy drinks, sugary fruit juices, and flavored milk—contribute to the ...
Health problems plague the half-million people living in colonias in South Texas, U.S. News reports. Colonias are predominantly Latino, unincorporated, and impoverished areas along the Texas-Mexico border. People live in makeshift shacks or trailers. They lack streets and basic public services, such as running water. Texas has about 2,300 colonias. 900 are in the Rio Grande Valley, including Hidalgo County. The county is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas, home to the bigger cities of McAllen & Edinburg. "Ramshackle living conditions [in colonias] have led to a plethora of health concerns," according to the news report. "About 38,000 colonia residents lacked access to clean drinking water."
Colonia Health Concerns
Many Latino families lack of support for economic ...
A few years ago, Salud America! found that Latino students are exposed to more unhealthy food in and out of school than their peers. This contributed to poor nutrition and high rates of obesity. Sadly, that situation still exists today. Latino high-school students eat fewer fruits and vegetables and don't eat breakfast daily as much as some of their peers, according to new data released in June 2018 from the CDC's 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
The Data
The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System monitors health-related behaviors. These behaviors usually develop during childhood and early adolescence and contribute to the leading causes of death and disability as well as social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey is ...
Obese Latino children who consume at least two servings of any type of cow’s milk daily are more likely to have lower fasting insulin, indicating better blood sugar control, according to a new study. The study points to milk's importance for kids, despite its declining consumption. U.S. milk consumption has consistently fallen over the past few decades. Adolescent consumption dropped by nearly half – to less than a cup daily – between 1977 and 2006, according to the USDA. “Our findings indicate that obese children who consume at least the daily recommended amount of milk may have more favorable sugar handling and this could help guard against metabolic syndrome,” Dr. Michael Yafi, the study’s first author and professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at ...
What are you doing for Cinco de Mayo? Many will use it as an excuse to party with margaritas and tacos. We at Salud America! invite you to think outside the box and celebrate Cinco de Mayo in one of six unconventional ways.
1. Find Out What Cinco de Mayo Really Means
Cinco de Mayo ("Fifth of May") does not celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. Mexico won independence on Sept. 16, 1810. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. Still, it has evolved into an observance of Mexican heritage. "In the 1950s, Chicano activists turned Cinco de Mayo into a commemorative holiday used to educate Mexican Americans about their cultural heritage," ...
