Commuting is often the worst part of our day. Driving is linked to poor physical and mental health, increased risk for traffic fatalities and serious injuries, and is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Changing the way you commute can help improve your health and the health of the environment. Whether you’re heading back to school or just want to change up your routine, ditch the car and explore ways to add walking, biking, and transit to your commute. UPDATE: Check out the recap on Wakelet. Let's use #SaludTues on September 11, 2018, to tweet about ways to change your commute and why it’s important. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Change the Way You Commute: Why & How”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, September 11, 2018
WHERE: On Twitter ...
Buses don’t run to a Latino mobile home community outside Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Instead, people there are forced to rely on cars─dangerous, expensive, polluting cars─ when they need to get to jobs, food, and healthcare. This isolates them from opportunities for health, jobs, and affordable housing, just like many other suburban and rural parts of our nation. Fortunately, planned public transit improvements will enable more buses across the Twin Cities, including the mobile home community. But how? Will it work for Latinos and all vulnerable neighborhoods?
Twin Cities Growing in Population, Traffic
The area to the east of the Twin Cities─the Interstate 94 (I-94) corridor─is expected to see a 24% increase in population and a 30% increase in jobs by 2040, according ...
Sonja Trauss hated her commute. Driving her car a long way from home to her job as a math teacher was unproductive, wasted time. It was expensive. It was stressful, harming her physical and mental health. And it was dangerous. Yet this was Trauss’ reality with no affordable housing near her job. But Trauss grew tired of paying so much time, money, and stress to drive a car because of a shortage of affordable housing in Marin County (16.1% Latino) in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. She decided to make a stand. Trauss formed a group to push for more affordable housing and challenged developers, decision-makers, and opposition to affordable housing in this region. Did it work?
Transportation Costs Matter for Affordable Housing
Behind housework, the daily car ...
We know that kids of migrant workers, who are mainly Latino, grow up exposed to a high level of trauma. Trauma can be neglect, abuse, poverty, as well as separation between parents and children. Children separated from their parents are at high risk for more emotional problems and delays in growth and development. Trauma can even cause physical problems, according to a new study. "There are also other emotional scars that manifest themselves in physical ailments that, if left untreated, can turn into serious illnesses that can last a lifetime," according to a news release about the study, led by Ashley Marchante-Hoffman of the University of Miami.
Shedding Light on Childhood Trauma among Latino Immigrants
Latino immigrant children face a variety of health issues. The ...
Latinos are less likely than other population groups to seek doctoral degrees and study cancer. Fortunately, a new study from UT Health San Antonio showcases the success of the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program in motivating Latinos to earn doctoral degrees and pursue careers in cancer research. The study, published in the Journal of Cancer Education, examined the methods and results of the Éxito! program. Éxito!, led by Salud America! director Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio and funded by the National Cancer Institute, recruits 25 Latino students and health professionals annually for a culturally tailored curriculum to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research career. The program also offers internships and ongoing ...
Air pollution is the world’s greatest environmental health threat. Sadly, Latinos and other minorities breathe 38% more polluted air than whites. It’s even worse in California, where the Latino (39.1%) and Black (6.5%) populations live in regions with the dirtiest air in the state, according to a new environmental report from California Environmental Protection Agency. "These folks primarily live in low-income, disadvantaged communities often found near ports, warehouses, rail yards, and factories that foul the air, pollute the water and rain toxins down on playgrounds, parks and backyards," writes Rocky Rushing of the San Francisco Chronicle about the new report.
California Air Quality
In California, 44% of Latinos live in communities with poor air quality, compared to ...
We know that children of migrant workers, who are predominantly Latino, grow up exposed to a high level of trauma, such as neglect, abuse, poverty, and low access to healthy food and safe places to play. Separation between parents and children also is "incredibly harmful," according to a report. Zoe E. Taylor, a researcher at Purdue University who is studying mental health and resiliency in the children of Latino migrant farmworkers, says parent attachment is critical to childhood well-being. "In these populations, teens are used to contributing to the family and the value of family has tremendous cultural significance," Taylor said, in a press release. "These teens may have additional burdens, making this an even more stressful situation. And at the same time, they are often a ...
More than one-third of U.S. high-school students were overweight or obese, including a higher rate among Latinos (37.7%) than their black (36%) and white (26.5%) peers, according to new CDC data. Sharp disparities were also found in Latino sleep habits and health conditions like asthma.
The Data
The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System monitors health-related behaviors. These behaviors usually develop during childhood and early adolescence. They contribute to the leading causes of death among youth and adults in the United States. The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey is part of the surveillance system. It examines 121 health-related behaviors of high-schoolers. Today we're examining the data on obesity, sleep, and asthma.
Latino Youth and Obesity
More Latino and black ...
In Latino culture, family is the heart and children are expected to be caregivers for their aging parents. 1 in every 3 U.S. Latino households has at least one family caregiver. These Latino caregivers—mainly women in their 40s—juggle multiple jobs or leave the workforce entirely to enter the respectable but high-stress role of taking care of aging family members, who are 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other age-related mental health issues. Latino caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease patients deal with high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, studies show. "Too often, Latino caregivers do not know where to turn for guidance, relief, and support for their caregiving activities," according to a recent report from the National Hispanic ...
