As a state that has yet to expand Medicaid, Texas continues to fall behind other states when it comes to healthcare access, including maternal healthcare. Much of this has to do with the lack of access to affordable health coverage. According to a new report from UnidosUS, Texas is the country’s worst state when it comes to providing healthcare coverage for children. The report found that over 1 million children in Texas lacked health coverage in 2024 – a metric that accounts for 14% of the childhood population of the state. This is compared to the 6% of US children that were uninsured. What’s more, a staggering 66% of uninsured children in Texas were Latino. “Being born in Texas more than doubles the likelihood that a child will grow up ...
Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, is part of everyday life for many people. In fact, experts say people interact with AI almost constantly or several times a day, from looking up information to creating something to making decisions. That goes for health decision-making, too. “AI is rapidly becoming a key player in many people's medical decisions. According to OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, more than 40 million people consult the platform every day for health information,” NPR reports. Let’s dive deeper into what this means and how trustworthy AI is for health advice.
Making the Right Medical Choices with AI?
One in six American adults consult AI chatbots for health information at least once a month, according to a recent study in Nature Medicine. The ...
More than 59 million Americans provide care for an adult with a complex medical condition or disability. When it comes to Latinos, 17% of caregivers in the U.S. are Latino. A recently published report from the Pew Research Center found that lower-income adults with an aging parent, spouse, or partner are more likely to be caregivers than those in higher income tiers. “What we found is that the caregiving burden increases as aging family members get to be 75 and older. And, among Americans with an aging parent, spouse or partner, those with lower incomes are much more likely to be caregivers than those with middle and upper incomes,” according to the Pew Research Center. Let’s dig deeper into this study’s key takeaways that can impact families.
10% of All U.S. Adults ...
From breastfeeding to solid foods and vegetables, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) address childhood food issues in a new report, Early Childhood Nutrition. The report covers: Breastfeeding
Support for Infant Feeding
First Solid Foods
Healthy Eating
Affordability of Nutritious Foods Let’s dive deeper into the report and how it impacts families with children.
1. Most Infants Don’t Receive Full Health Benefits from Breast Milk
The CDC report found that only 2 in 5 infants born in 2022 were still being breastfed on their first birthday, meaning that most infants do not receive the full health benefits that breast milk can provide. “Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for most infants. It helps protect babies and moms from ...
Commuting is a part of everyday life for many. In fact, almost 140 million people in the United States routinely commuted to work in 2022, according to the United States Census Bureau. Many Latino parents with low incomes who commute to work are commuting a long way, with 1 in 10 traveling 60 minutes or more to work, according to a new report by the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families (NRCHCF). Let’s look deeper into data on commutes and how it impacts families and communities.
Commuting by the Numbers
According to the NRCHCF research, people who commute to work outside of the home take an average of 27.8 minutes to travel to work. For Latino parents with low incomes, the distance increases. “One in 10 (10%) Hispanic parents with low ...
Last year, the US earned a D+ for preterm birth on the March of Dimes Report Card. The March of Dimes Report Card is an annual report that signifies where states and the rest of the country are in terms of infant and maternal mortality and morbidity. This year, the US is following up its last poor rating with another D+, making it the fourth consecutive year the country has earned the substandard score. Of the births that occurred in the US in 2024, nearly 380,000 babies were born preterm, accounting for every 1 in 10 births, according to the report. Let’s take a closer look at the March of Dimes Report Card and what it means for infant and maternal health in the US.
Preterm Births in the US
March of Dimes, which pushes for better maternal and infant ...
About three quarters of Latino children received medical care in the past year, according to a new report from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families. However, the remaining 1 of 4 Latino children had not seen a doctor, nurse, or urgent/emergency care personnel in at least one year. Let’s dig deeper into this report and how it impacts families.
What Does the Report Say about Latino Children’s Medical Care?
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families report found that receipt of medical care in the past year varied by child age. Younger Latino children (birth to age 5) more likely to have received medical care (85%) than older children (ages 6-12, 75%) and teens (ages 13-18, 65%). Children living in families with low incomes were ...
While childhood obesity remains a problem in the US, much progress has been made to address the epidemic over the past 20 years. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) recently published its 2025 State of Childhood Obesity Report to reflect on the national movement to address childhood obesity and its many accomplishments and lessons learned over time. “Our work together has always been grounded in a simple belief: that every child should be able to grow up healthy, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money their family has,” said Jamie Bussel, RWJF senior officer. Let’s dive deeper into this report and how it can shape efforts to address childhood obesity.
1. Major Commitments Require Vision, Staying Power
The RWJF report describes the skyrocketing ...
Type 2 diabetes has increased at an alarming rate in children, increasing to between 24% and 45% (compared to 1-2% before the mid-1990s), with the average age of diagnosis being around 13 years old, according to research. This can deeply effect young Latinos, as more than 22% of Latino youth and 28.7% of Latino young adults have prediabetes. Many factors contribute to this rise, including childhood obesity, genetics, and diet. Now, researchers from Florida Atlantic University have found that where a child lives can also factor into their risk for type 2 diabetes. Let’s explore this research and see how it impacts children and their communities.
Behind the Research on Diabetes in Children
Researchers for Florida Atlantic University’s ’s Charles E. Schmidt College of ...
