Most Latina and black women do not eat a healthy diet before pregnancy, despite its many benefits, according to a new study. A healthy maternal diet can reduce risk of obesity, preterm birth, and preeclampsia. The study scored the diets of 7,500 women in the weeks leading up to pregnancy. No women in any racial/ethnic group met the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to study leader Lisa Bodnar of the University of Pittsburgh. Only about 25% of white, 14% of Latina, and 5% of black women had well-scored diets. Soda was the primary contributor to energy intake among Latina an black women, according to the study. "Our findings mirror national nutrition and dietary trends. The diet-quality gap among non-pregnant people is thought to be a consequence of many factors, ...
Abril es el Mes Nacional de la Salud de las Minorías. Este es un tiempo dedicado para concientizar a la comunidad hispana acerca de los altos riesgos de adquirir ciertas enfermedades entre nuestra comunidad. Visita el sitio web de la Oficina de Salud de las Minorías de HHS para descargar materiales, encontrar eventos y compartir tu historia. Nunca es demasiado temprano para tomar medidas y nunca demasiado tarde para comenzar el manejo de la atención hacia enfermedades de las cuales los latinos pueden ser más propensos, por ejemplo la diabetes, la obesidad y el cáncer de seno. Si se trata de una joven aprendiendo sobre su riesgo de cáncer de seno y cuando empezar a hacerse estudios preventivos, o si se trata de un adulto mayor que busca opciones de tratamiento para ...
More Latino youths are not in school and not working than white youths, according to a new report. These youth—also called "disconnected"—face hurdles as they become adults where they live. This includes lower rates of education, and higher rates of child poverty, unemployment, and teen births. 1 in 8 U.S. youths ages 16-24 are "disconnected." Disconnection, a new measure in the new 2017 County Health Rankings, creates health and economic issues. "Youth disconnected from opportunity—meaning the chance to advance in school, gain work experience, form relationships, and build social supports in the community—represent untapped potential to strengthen the social and economic vibrancy of our communities," according to the report.
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The County Health Rankings, ...
While colorectal cancer rates have gone down among older adults, they are spiking among Millennials and Generation Xers, recent studies disturbingly have found. Compared to people born in 1950, people born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer, according to American Cancer Society researchers who analyzed data from more than 490,000 colorectal cancer cases in adults from 1974 to 2013. For Latinos, this is especially troubling information. Colon cancer is already the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among Latino men and the third-leading cause of cancer deaths among Latinas. “It’s extremely rare for an incidence of a disease to increase this much,” said Dr. Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Memorial Sloan ...
What do physicians recommend when it comes to feeding an infant? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) children should be exclusively breastfed between the ages of 1-6 months. After the first months of life with the guidance of a physician, parents may begin to introduce solid foods but should continue to breastfeed for another 12 months. Below are some tips from the AAP for feeding infants: Establish a pattern of feeding for a full 4oz of milk, at a set amount of time;
During the first month babies may indicate hunger by rooting or by placing a fist in their mouth;
Babies should be fed 8-12 times throughout the day (every 2-3 hours);
Babies should feed adequately within the first 15-20 minutes (otherwise they may not be latched on well). For more ...
Where you live has an incredible amount to do with how healthy and happy you are. Research shows Latinos and low-income families lack access to healthy food options, active spaces, and healthy school environments—which impact an area’s culture of health. So how healthy and happy are heavily Latino states? Gallup recently surveyed 177,000 Americans and ranked every state in terms of its citizens’ “personal contentment” or happiness. Rankings were based on financial stability, physical health, and community involvement. New Mexico, California, Texas, and Arizona—the four most heavily Latino U.S. states—ranked well, at No. 20, 13, 10, and 7, respectively, in terms of happiest, healthiest residents. Hawaii (9.9% Latino) ranked No. 1. Hawaii reported low obesity ...
An article published by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine has outlined the overall impact that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had on healthcare access for Latinos. In the U.S. Latinos have traditionally faced inequities and disparities in access to healthcare compared to Whites. With the passing of the ACA, Americans overall made historic gains in reducing the rates of the uninsured population. Latinos especially reached record lows in the number of uninsured individuals. According to the study, despite the historic gains, Latinos perform worse on most measures of access to and utilization of their health care than Whites. The reasons for these disparities are multifaceted and include citizenship status, language, and socioeconomic status. In order to ...
A new grant opportunity through the Atena Foundation's 2017 Cultivating Healthy Communities grant is open, offering up to $2 million in grants to organizations that increase opportunities for low-income, minority communities to make healthy choices in the places they live, work, learn, and play. Grant requests can range between $50,000 and $100,000 for projects that span 18 to 24 months. They are seeking partners whose work addresses pressing issues in the following domains: Built Environment, Community Safety, Environmental Exposures, Healthy Behaviors, and Social/Economic Factors.
This will be a highly competitive funding opportunity structured in two stages. Stage 1 involves a short application where all eligible organizations are invited to submit an online Stage 1 application ...
Latinos are the largest and fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the United States. Despite gains made with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, Latinos are also still the largest uninsured population in the country. One of the major ways that many Latinos have attained healthcare has been through Medicare. Currently, Medicare provides health coverage for most Americans when they reach age 65 or have been receiving Social Security disability benefits for 24 months. The service covers a portion of the health care costs of over 55 million Americans, including approximately 4.1 million Latinos. Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated guide that outlines what Medicare doesn’t cover. In order to reduce health disparities, ...
