Watch a podcast featuring Dr. Amelie Ramirez! Ramirez is leader of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind Salud America!. She discusses the cancer challenges and solutions among Hispanics during the 33rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 11, 2010. Dr. Ramirez, who also led a panel at the symposium, also talks about the importance of genetic testing for breast cancer among Latinas, as well as statewide and national communications programs. The podcast was done by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). To see more podcasts from the symposium, go ...
Almost one-quarter of young women who are overweight actually perceive themselves as being normal weight, while a sizable minority (16 percent) of women at normal body weight actually fret that they're too fat, according to a new study, HealthDay reports. The study found that 30 percent of adult Americans in the "overweight" class believed they were actually normal size, while 70 percent of those classified as obese felt they were simply overweight. Among overweight women, 28 percent of blacks and about 25 percent of Hispanics considered their weight within the normal range, compared to 15 percent of overweight white women. The trend was the opposite among normal-weight women, with more whites (16 percent) believing they were fat, compared to just 7 percent of blacks, according to ...
Although screening tests are widely available, many cancers aren't diagnosed until the disease is well-advanced and, therefore, less treatable, a new U.S. government report finds, HealthDay reports. Almost one-half of colorectal cancers and cervical cancers and one-third of breast cancers in the U.S. are detected at a late stage, according to the report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report also found that Latinas ages 50-79 have the highest rates of late-stage cervical cancer. Yet, if caught early, these three cancers have very high survival rates. "People need to be aware of what they need to have done medically and follow-up with their providers," said report co-author Dr. Lisa Richardson, associate director for science in CDC's Division of Cancer ...
Researchers say Mexican immigrants who exercise regularly, eat wholesome foods and live in tight-knit communities illustrate why Latinos live longer on average than non-Hispanic whites and blacks, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
That lifestyle may extend their lifespan, according to a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released last month. It found Latinos in the U.S. live on average 80.6 years, compared with 78.1 years for non-Hispanic whites and 72.9 for non-Hispanic blacks.
Experts call it the "Latino health paradox." People usually live longer if they have high incomes, high education levels and greater access to health care. Latinos are on average poorer, less educated and less likely to visit doctors than most Americans -- yet they live longer.
The CDC ...
The holidays bring more requests for food donations to help needy families at this time of the year, so ensuring the health of donated food is important, given the growth of obesity nationwide. “Providing healthier foods is important not only for our own families, but also for those who receive donated foods over the holidays,” said Dr. Sue Cunningham, assistant professor and program coordinator of the Dietetics and Nutrition Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Here are some tips for healthy holiday food donations from Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Carmen Roman-Shriver, director of the aforementioned Dietetics and Nutrition Program: Consider foods that are dense in nutrients, such as canned or dry beans or lentils, whole-grain pasta, rice, ...
Bailamos is Spanish for, “Let’s dance.” But in Cathy Bohnak’s Spanish class in Medina Valley High School in Castroville, Texas, students don’t just learn the term—they perform it. In class, students dance and march along to a pair of student-created dance videos while they recite and practice Spanish vocabulary words. “This is a fun way to get exercise and learn Spanish vocabulary at the same time,” Bohnak said. The dance videos are part of a schoolwide plan to get Medina Valley students moving. In addition to the Spanish class, activities to get students moving have been implemented in math and science classes, too. Several teachers also volunteered to host a video-led exercise session for students before school and a Salsa dance class after school. The ...
Rosemarie Burgos and Melanie Benitez were a bit nervous. The two teens—on a night when their friends might be home watching TV—were about to stand before the Common Council of New Britain, Conn., and argue that the city should plan to re-open pools to boost local physical activity options. But they came prepared. Months before that Sept. 8 city meeting, Benitez, Burgos and other Latina teens joined a pilot project led by the Community Health Center and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) through Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children. As part of the project, the girls took photos of parks and the closed pools littered with trash and graffiti, interviewed kids, parents and city officials on the need for ...
How does... A group of Latina teens get city leaders to boost activity in parks? (Page 1)
Spanish class get kids up and moving? (Page 3)
Cristina Barroso help Latinos' activity, body-image perceptions? (Page 5) Find the answers and more in the latest Salud America! E-newsletter. Also find out the latest in Latino childhood obesity policy, news and updates on Salud America! Salud America! is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation network to pevent obesity among Latino kids. The network is directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, which developed SaludToday. To sign up to receive Salud America! E-newsletters, go ...
Check out this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) blog about Unity Health Care, which runs a health center in a Washington, D.C., area that is home to many recent Mexican and Central American immigrants: A 2008 study showed that, among the Latino population in DC, 60 percent of kids were overweight or obese—a staggering number, and one that Unity wanted to address.
On Wednesday morning at APHA, Dr. Eleni O’Donovan explained how they did.
O’Donovan and her colleagues began by adapting the national program We Can (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition) to fit the needs of their center. They identified ways they could help local families, who were already coming to the health center for other services, eat healthier foods and be more active. Using ...