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Introduction & Methods: Latino Housing, Transportation, and Green Space


tower of affordable housing

This is part of the Salud America! The State of Latinos and Housing, Transportation, and Green Space: A Research Review » Abstract Across the United States, Latino communities vary in affordable housing, safe and adequate transit, parks and open green space, and other elements that are necessary to fully thrive and achieve health equity. These differences in opportunity result in health disparities between different zip codes or census tracts—with poor health outcomes more prevalent in communities of color and low-income communities. It is perhaps even more critical to address these underlying social, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to health than to address the health disparities directly if we are to hope for long term changes in community health and ...

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Report: Junk Food Advertised More to Latino, Black Kids



Disparities in advertising for unhealthy food continue to target Latino and Black youth, according to a new report from Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, the Council on Black Health at Drexel University, and Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. Eight out of 10 food ads seen by Latino children on Spanish-language TV promote fast food, candy, sugary drinks, and snacks. Unhealthy food marketing aimed at youth is a contributor to poor diets and related diseases, like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Targeting Latino and Black youth with unhealthy marketing contributes to disparities in health. That’s why the UConn Rudd Center first explored food-related TV advertising in 2013. Since then, the 10 companies with the most targeted ...

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Study: Latino Health Suffers Due to Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric


young latina stress depression

Latinos make up nearly 18% of the U.S. population and are the largest ethnic minority. Even 1 in 4 U.S. kids is Latino, mostly U.S.-born citizens. Yet with the current political climate of inflammatory rhetoric, parental separation, and tear-gassing of migrants along the border, many Latinos feel the burden of an anti-immigrant climate, according to a research report. “Current discourse about immigrants and immigration tends to be dehumanizing,” Dr. R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez, assistant professor of Population Health at NYU’s School of Medicine and lead author of the study, told HuffPost. “Dehumanization is never healthy.” The Alarming Study Findings This appalling rhetoric is harmful for Latinos, regardless of their immigration status, according to the new ...

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Childhood Trauma Increases Risk of Teen Obesity



Teens with more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are more likely to have overweight, obesity, and severe obesity than those with no ACEs, according to a new Minnesota study. Youth with one ACE─psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, familial substance abuse, domestic violence, or parental incarceration─were 1.38 times as likely to have obesity than youth with no ACEs. Those with all six ACEs were 2.03 times as likely to have obesity. Additionally, Latino youth were 1.38 times as likely to be overweight as white non-Latinos. “Our results imply that child health professionals should understand the relationship between ACEs and weight status in adolescence, and that screening for ACEs and referring youth and their families to appropriate services might be an ...

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Survey: Childhood Adversity May Worsen Health Inequities



U.S. Latino and multiracial children face higher exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than non-Latinos, according to a new national survey. Overall, nearly 62% of survey respondents had at least one ACE, according to a CDC analysis of data from the latest Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual phone survey on the health of a nationally representative sample of 400,000 Americans. About 24% reported experiencing one ACE, 13% two ACEs, 9% three ACEs, and 16% four or more ACEs. Mean ACE scores were higher among: Latinos compared with whites; females compared with males; those with less than a high school education than those completing high school or more; those who make less than $15,000 a year compared with those in all other income ...

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Study: Latino Men Born in the U.S are More Inclined to Obesity


obesity rates as latino man walks away

Latino men who are born or live in the United States for more than five years are twice as likely to be obese than those born outside the U.S., according to a new study from Florida State University study in the American Journal of Men's Health. This could become a problem for the U.S. workforce. "[Latinos] are also gradually becoming the majority of blue-collar workers. It is important to know about the health conditions of our labor force. If we do not, those conditions could become a public health burden in the future," said Amy Ai of Florida State, who led the study, in a press release. Why More Obesity in U.S.-Born Latinos? Ai and her team found that those who lived in the U.S. for more than 21 years were 1.5 times more likely to become obese than other foreign-born men. ...

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Report: Latino, Black Youth Far More Obese than Peers


US map youth obesity rates

Nationwide, 20.6% of Latino youth and 22.5% of Black youth have obesity compared to 12.5% of white youth, according to a new data report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The new data feature obesity rates among youth ages 10-17 nationally and from each state from the 2016 and 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), along with analysis conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Five states have Latino youth obesity rates over 30%. No states have White youth obesity rates over that mark. “Far too many young people in this country are facing increased chances of diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, all due to a preventable condition … black and Latino youth are still more likely ...

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A Rising Health Disparity: Latino Babies Face Increased Neonatal Risks


pregnant latina mom

A recent study shows that Latino and African American premature babies have a 2-to-4-times greater risk of four severe neonatal health problems compared to their white counterparts, CNN reports. Latina moms already suffer from health disparities that impact their baby, according to a Salud America! Research Review: Maternal obesity Poor nutrition and lack of physical activity Lack of breastfeeding (less than 50% of Latina moms still breastfeed their newborns by age 6 months) Lack of paid maternity leave Pregnant women who experience other health disparities, such as poverty and discrimination, may be related to birthing preterm babies. "There is growing evidence that chronic stress associated with poverty and exposure to discrimination can lead to behavioral ...

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