Overall, most young people in the United States want any health care overhaul by the current Presidential Administration to “strongly resemble” the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which was signed into law under President Barack Obama. A new poll by GenForward found that the majority of young Americans – age 18-30 – think the federal government should be responsible for ensuring that all Americans have health insurance. “I do believe the government should offer it because we pay taxes,” said Rachel Haney, 27, of Tempe, AZ in an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I do feel like it's a right.” However, the one main caveat that the majority of those surveyed agreed upon was the requirement that all Americans purchase health care or face a fine. The Affordable ...
A few years ago, Jaxson Martinez and his family got the worst news imaginable. Jaxson, a five-year-old from Uvalde, Texas, was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma. This is a rare cancer, only about 300 cases a year in the U.S. He would need at least a four-week stay at San Antonio’s Methodist Children’s Hospital, and also a year's worth of chemotherapy. "Even though it broke our hearts to know our son has cancer, he seems to have no idea he's even sick," said Juan Martinez, Jaxson's father. Jaxson endured seven rounds of chemotherapy, stem cell transplants, tumor removals, 12 rounds of radiation, and had more than 30 blood transfusions! "And to him, at 2 years old, he thought this was all normal," Juan said. Jaxson's story has a happy ending. He had a ...
Childhood obesity is a serious public health concern in the United States. About 12.7 million children and adolescents aged 2–19 years, or 17 percent of the population, have obesity. For minorities, the statistics are even more troubling. Nearly 40% of Latino children are overweight or obese (higher rates than both white and black children), placing a significant burden on the current and future state of Latino health. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has recently released a discussion paper in which they analyze the role that local businesses can play in alleviating this the childhood obesity epidemic. Per the report (and in line with Salud America’s research) a lack of access to affordable, healthy foods, the absence of physical activity in schools and childcare ...
A recent study uncovered some alarming facts about cervical cancer. Women are dying at higher rates from cervical cancer than previously thought. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. By getting regular Pap tests, doctors can find and treat abnormal cells in the cervix before they become cancerous. Latinas already have the highest rates of cervical cancer among all groups of women. Cervical cancer disproportionately impacts the Latino community at 9.7%, compared to non-Latinos at 7.1%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The American Cancer Society also notes that in just this year alone, more than 12,820 cases will be diagnosed, and 4,210 women will die from the disease. Even more important, perhaps, is that it is the ...
It has long been known that where you live greatly impacts a person’s overall life and their potential future success. Environment affects health, income, education, and access to opportunities. Many Latinos are often forced to live in low-income, high-poverty, and high-crime areas through a variety of obstacles and barriers put into their paths. A report from the Metropolitan Planning Council and Urban Institute attempted to determine the real cost of racial segregation in housing. According to the report, this situation is costing the country as a whole billions of dollars each year. “Our study documents the relationships between segregation and the incomes, educations and safety of a metropolitan region’s residents,” said Greg Acs, the director of the Income and Benefits ...
Looking to make an impact on California Latina's grocery store shopping habits, researchers looked at how watching videos on healthy purchases could help encourage healthier shopping habits among Latina's. As studied by previous researchers, interventions that are focused solely on providing access to healthier foods for underserved people is not sufficient in helping them to eat healthier. However, equipping "food gatekeepers" or those who make the purchasing decisions for food and family meals, with knowledge on nutrition and grocery list planning skills can be a way for low-cost effective interventions. For the intervention, two groups of Latina's were asked to watch two videos, the first one on guided shopping and the other video focusing on mindfulness to support intentional ...
Even as U.S. cancer rates decline, liver cancer rates remain on the rise, especially among Latinos. But why? A new UT Health San Antonio study found that Latinos with liver cancer had much higher levels of aflatoxins than those without liver cancer. Alfatoxins are cancer-causing chemicals produced by mold that can contaminate improperly stored foods. People can ingest aflatoxins in contaminated corn, nuts, rice, sesame seeds, wheat, and some spices. For the study, researchers gauged aflatoxin exposure in 42 liver cancer cases and 42 non-cases from clinics in San Antonio, Texas. Two-thirds of the pairs were Latinos. Liver cancer cases had 6 times higher odds of having detectable levels of aflatoxins in their blood, compared to non-cases. "This study means that Latinos ...
There is no secret that the United States overall has an obesity problem. According to a new report from the financial website WalletHub, the cost for America’s fight with obesity costs nearly $316 billion per year in medical bills. More than a third of U.S. adults are obese (36.5%), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity in children and adolescents between the ages 2 of 19 sits at 17%. For Latinos, the problem is at an epidemic level. Nearly 40% of Latino children are overweight or obese (higher rates than both white and black children), placing a significant burden on the current and future state of Latino health. According to WalletHub, more than 70 percent of Americans (age 15 and older) are overweight or obese. In order to reduce health ...
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, ...
