When COVID-19 struck, it impacted Latinos more than others. That is why Salud America!, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded national program at UT Health San Antonio, immediately applied its digital content curation model to create equitable, culturally relevant information and action opportunities to address pandemic effects on Latinos. The result? Record spikes in program website traffic and confirmation of the curation model's capacity to increase people's exposure to culturally relevant and action-oriented information for a novel topic like COVID-19, according to a new study published in the journal Health Promotion Practice. "We have shown that digital content curation is an effective, measurable public health promotion tool to disseminate awareness-raising and ...
Where you live matters for your health. The health of any population is determined by several factors including the physical, emotional, socioeconomic, and environmental circumstances in which they live. For U.S. Latinos, these factors can be daily challenges and cause poor health outcomes, especially for their children. As a result, Latino children have higher rates of obesity and diabetes and lower levels of physical activity than their non-Latino peers. These inequities are worsening amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These children also are at least twice as likely to be uninsured. "To help reverse these outcomes, it is important for Latino children and youth to enroll in health coverage and have access to preventive care. Children who have health coverage are shown to have ...
Submit a comment to support strong limits on added sugars and no sugary drinks for toddlers in the scientific report that will help shape the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A federal committee released the scientific report on July 15, 2020, after spending months reviewing data and over 55,000 public comments—including some from Salud America! members. USDA and HHS will use the scientific report and comments to draft the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. You can comment on the report through Aug. 13, 2020. Marion Nestle, a nutrition researcher, told CNN that the report has "stronger recommendations" than past guidelines. This includes no sugary drinks for children up to age 2. "At the outset, I was concerned that the committee members might be ...
55,564 people—including members of Salud America!—submitted public comments to help shape the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A federal advisory committee will consider the public comments, collected from March 2019 to June 2020, as they create a scientific report to inform the new dietary guidelines. Our members made over 250 comments to add water to the MyPlate/MiPlato graphic, reduce added sugars, and promote dietary equity. The USDA and HHS will use the scientific report and comments to draft the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. But don't worry if you missed commenting! USDA and HHS will open a new comment period for the advisory committee's scientific report around July 15, 2020. "We're excited that so many people spoke up for equitable ...
We know that older adults with underlying health conditions are most vulnerable to the worst effects of coronavirus. New data show that 10% of COVID-19 patients with diabetes die within one week of being hospitalized, according to a French study in the journal Diabetologia. Most hospitalizations are men and older adults (average age 69.8). The study also found that each increase in body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increase in the risk of intubation and/or death in the 7 days following admission for COVID-19, Dr. Samy Hadjadj told Medscape Medical News. "Before [this study] it was, 'all diabetes [patients] are the same.' Now we can surely consider more precisely the risk, taking age, sex, BMI, complications ... as clear 'very high-risk situations,'" Hadjadj said. "So ...
Preparing for and overcoming any disaster, such as the current coronavirus pandemic, requires healthy and resilient communities. However, after age, obesity is the biggest risk factor for being hospitalized with COVID-19. And the U.S. has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, with drastic disparities among racial/ethnic groups, including the highest rates among Latinos. To beat COVID-19, we need healthier communities that prevent obesity and leaders who prioritize equitable access to healthy food, housing, and safe spaces to walk and bike instead of space for cars. “We in the U.S. have not always identified obesity as a disease, and some people think it’s a lifestyle choice. But it’s not,” said Dr. Matthew Hutter, director of the Weight Center at Massachusetts ...
Health equity is where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest life possible. But health inequity remains. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening historical inequities, and disproportionately affecting and killing Latinos and other people of color. So what can we do? We need both immediate focus to ease the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on Latinos and people of color, as well as long-term strides to address underlying inequities that are aggravated during this time. It won't be easy, or fast. But here's few ways to push for health equity.
1. Understand the Need for Heath Equity During COVID-19 and After
Where you live matters for your health. Even before COVID-19, inequitable city planning, historic discriminatory practices like ...
Fewer than 5% of Latinos participate in federal clinical trials. That gives researchers less chance to find treatments that work for this population. Latinos suffer a heavier burden of coronavirus, obesity, and certain cancers. How are we going to make sure new treatments─such as a COVID-19 vaccine─work as well for Latinos and other people of color? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, to discuss how to ensure diversity and inclusion of people of color in research amid the COVID-19 pandemic! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: How to Ensure Diversity in Research during Coronavirus
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, April 28, 2020
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: UnidosUS (@WeAreUnidosUS); League of ...
With the rise of COVID-19, our team at Salud America! is digitally curating content about what the coronavirus pandemic means for Latino health equity. We want to ensure Latinos get an equitable share of culturally relevant information. You can do your part! Share our Latino COVID-19 Vaccine "Change of Heart" Bilingual Storytelling Campaign in English or Spanish. We hope to move Latinos from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence through telling stories of real Latinos who ended up getting the vaccine! Share our "Juntos, We Can Stop COVID-19" bilingual campaign to stop the spread! Share our infographic on 8 ways coronavirus impacts Latinos (English | Spanish).
Follow our content that has increased exposure to Latino health equity amid the pandemic, according to a ...
