Over the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, gains made in life expectancy dropped — especially among Latinos and other people of color. As a whole, US life expectancy fell by a year, dipping from 78.8 to 77.8 years from 2019 to June 2020, which is the lowest average since 2006, according to CDC research. Latinos, who have experienced some of the harshest COVID-19 impacts, saw a drop in life expectancy of 1.9 years. Latino life expectancy fell from 81.8 to 79.9 years. “It was disturbing to see that gains that have been made for the Black [and Latino communities] and decreasing the gap between life expectancy for African Americans and white Americans over the past six years had come to a halt,” Dr. Leon McDougle, president of the National Medical Association, ...
America’s approach to road safety continues to fail, especially for pedestrians. The number of people walking who have been struck and killed by people driving grew 45% from 2010 and 2019, according to the new Dangerous by Design report from Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition. Why? Policymakers in cities and states across the country continue to trust unsafe street design practices that prioritize speed for people driving, enable larger vehicles, and rely on police enforcement and ineffectual education campaigns to promote safety. Experts urge federal, state, and local leaders to adjust road design to prioritize pedestrians and other forms of active travel such as bicycling, as well as quit blaming individuals and relying on police.
The Most ...
Latinos at risk of a stroke do not receive adequate treatment and support despite being aware of their risk factors, according to a new study published in Stroke, an American Heart Association journal. “It’s a wake-up call for the medical community. Despite our best efforts, Hispanic and Latino populations still seem to be undertreated for their vascular risk factors,” said Dr. Fernando D. Testai, co-author of the study, according to McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. “I didn’t expect the numbers to be so dismal.” Researchers suspect that lack of access to healthcare and not having health insurance are the main contributors to Latinos being undertreated for strokes, indicating that inequitable resources can have a detrimental impact on Latino health.
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School meals are important contributors to the healthy diets of our nation’s children. This is especially true for children in food insecure homes, almost half of whom are Latino, according to 14 papers published in a special issue of the journal Nutrients. The papers make important links between school meals and food security, obesity, and racial/ethnic disparities. "These new papers go even deeper in exploring how national policies [including the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act] have affected children and schools,” said Dr. Mary Story of Healthy Eating Research, which commissioned the new papers. “As Congressional leaders look to reauthorize the bill this year, it’s critical that these standards are kept in place.” Update 4/8/21: Jamie Bussel of the Robert Wood ...
Historically and presently, Latinos are underrepresented in clinical research. Researchers want to increase diverse participation in clinical trials to ensure that Latinos and other underrepresented populations benefit from advances in public health and medicine, including personalized medicine. This is especially important amid a harmful pandemic that is disproportionately impacting Latinos. In hopes of increasing awareness among Latinos and people burdened by COVID-19, the National Health Institute's (NIH) Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities Program created a new series of bilingual videos on clinical trials about vaccines and clinical trials to prevent and treat COVID-19. "[Our] program focuses on addressing misinformation around COVID-19, ...
As the impacts of climate change continue to wreak havoc on communities across the globe, US Latinos are calling on leaders in Washington to do something. The new Biden presidential administration—one that has voiced its support for science and wants to do something about this issue—is working to make headway, despite four years of environmental rollbacks and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Still, communities of color, who will face the most significant harm, need wide-sweeping and immediate change, according to Ben Monterroso, a board chair of the national non-profit, Corazón Latino. “The strong support for the environment and climate action among Latinos continues a trend that has been building for years,” Monterroso writes in a recent USA Today op-ed. “Our elected ...
Exposure to racial and ethnic discrimination on social media is correlated with higher levels of anxiety and depression for young Latino men, according to a new study by researchers at Florida International University. “Surprisingly, there is a lot of research about cyberbullying and social media but there really wasn't a thorough study that looked at how exposure to ethnic discrimination on social media impacts mental health,” said Miguel Ángel Cano, lead author and principal investigator of the study at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, according to a press release. This study has severe implications for Latinos, who tend to suffer from mental health issues and have less access to mental health services. It also indicates how ethnic ...
President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Task Force is in full swing, and their main focus is tackling health equity. On Jan. 21, 2021, Biden signed an executive order to create a task force focused on COVID-19 related health and social inequities. “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the country, it has had a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable communities. Shortly after COVID-19 was first identified in the United States, disparities in testing, cases, hospitalizations, and mortality began to emerge. These inequities were quickly evident by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors,” according to the White House press briefing. As a result, the Biden administration selected people from diverse ...
Trouble concentrating in class. Not completing homework. Behavioral difficulties. Absenteeism. These outcomes are linked to exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs, such as abuse or parental substance abuse, can trigger the biological toxic stress response and hinder school learning, behavior, attendance, and academics. That’s why, in December 2020, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris released her Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. Salud America! is exploring the report as part of its 11-part series on toxic stress. Below are primary prevention, early detection, and early intervention strategies for education personnel to address ACEs and toxic stress among Latino and ...
