For many Latinos, discussing mental health issues still retains a strong, negative stigma. Often times, a lack of access to mental health care resources means conditions go either untreated or undiagnosed. Language barriers also prevent many from expressing their symptoms and/or concerns to their doctors. In the city of Fresno, Calif. (48.54% Latino population), one group is looking to help remove some of these barriers. The Consejo Project, part of the Department of Social Work Education at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), trains social work students to serve Spanish-speaking children, teenagers, and youths and examine and work through the systemic barriers that limit the access of Latinos to mental and substance abuse services in the San Joaquin Valley. “We ...
One of the key social determinants of health is a simple one that often goes overlooked. Where you live has a lot to do with how healthy you are going to be. Many Latinos are often forced to live in low-income, high-poverty, high-crime areas. These areas often have limited access to active spaces, healthy food choices, and health care. These inequities play great impact on the future success of many Latino youths. A recent study of public housing areas in Denver, Colo. (31% Latino population), that showcases the vast benefits of neighborhood economic diversity on Latino youths. The researchers chose Denver because of the wide-range of neighborhood options available to affordable housing users. In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in ...
Congratulation to California, where an ordinance passed last night in the city of Perris (71% Latino) requires restaurant's kids' meals to no longer serve sugary drinks as part of the default option of the meal. Now parents and kids can see the healthy choice as the easy choice when dining out. Families can still order sugary beverages for their kids, but as the American Heart Association warns, just one soda exceeds the limit for sugars for a whole day for teens and kids. One can of regular soda contains nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar and 140 calories. Policies that promote healthier beverages are important for many kids in the United States who consume at least one sugary beverage a day.
In fact, most two-thirds of children in the United States consumed at least one sugary ...
In recent years, Latinos have made great strides in improving their overall “state” of education. The dropout rate for Latino high school students is at an all-time low (12% in 2014) and even more (35%) are finding their way into a two- or four-year college. Despite all of this headway into education, Latinos often face unique barriers that prevent many from attaining a quality education. To help overcome these barriers, groups and organizations around the country have often sought out unique innovations to encourage more Latino engagement in education. In Goshen, Indiana (29.12% Latino population), representatives for Goshen College developed a unique approach to encouraging Latino students to enroll and succeed at their university. Richard Aguirre, the director of corporate ...
Stress often factors in as a huge burden on the health of many Americans, including much of the Latino population. A survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that health concerns – either an existing illness or disease or the financial costs associated with needing medical care – are serious causes of stress for many people. Yes, stress is everywhere. However, some people in some cities experience less stress in the U.S. The financial website SmartAsset recently examined positive and negative factors in 500 cities (with populations of 67,500 or more) in the country to determine the stress level citizens face. Positive factors include the rate of physical activity in the cities and the average hours of sleep; negative factors include hours of work per week and ...
In Oklahoma City, students at two local public schools are enjoying free salad bars donated by Dole Food Company and Homeland Stores as part of an initiative by the United Fresh Start Foundation to increase healthy options for students in school. “Healthy eating options are key for a healthy lifestyle, and that’s a high priority for us when it comes to feeding our kids,” said Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Aurora Lora told Business Wire. “I am very appreciative of our community partners for bringing these salad bars into our schools, supporting all the great work that our School Nutrition Services Department is doing to provide fresh, and great tasting food choices for our students.” The schools including Hawthorne Elementary school and Classen School of ...
On Thursday, March 9, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to address “persistent problems of poverty, violence, and poor health” in the borough of Brooklyn (28.92% Latino population). The eight-pronged plan hopes to incorporate holistic approaches to address these concerning issues. The initiative, entitled Vital Brooklyn, looked to poor resources several economically struggling neighborhoods in Brooklyn. While much of Brooklyn has prospered in recent years, crime and unemployment are still rampant in certain areas. “For too long investment in underserved communities has lacked the strategy necessary to end systemic social and economic disparity,” Cuomo said in an interview with The New York Times. “But in Central Brooklyn those failed approaches stop today. We ...
Many supporters and opposers of the newly proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages stood in lines for hours to voice their opinions about whether the governing body should put the question before voters during May's special election. Supporters of the tax, like Paul Gibson wanted the special election, explaining that it is a worthy investment to spend the estimated $85,000 for the special election as voters will be distracted by other issues in May. However, employees of the soda industry urged to delay the vote or find another funding source for pre-K, as the tax is proposed to support funding of pre-kindergarten for low-income families. One employee, Joseph Sanchez explained to Santa Fe New Mexican news, that they aren't bad people and they support help for ...
Latinos are the fastest growing racial and ethnic minority population in the country. They are already the largest and youngest and are closing the gaps in several key inequity gaps, including education and health care access. Another important social determinant of health is employment. The ability to find sustainable and equitable employment is key in factoring the long-term health of most individuals. A new report from the financial site WalletHub has helped determine what the “hardest working” cities in the United States are. Using six metric measures, the site compared the 116 largest cities in the country. These measures include “labor-force participation rate,” “average weekly work hours,” and “share of workers with multiple jobs.” In order to ...
