A recent study by the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas has discovered an interesting correlation between obesity and peanut consumption. According to their study, Mexican-American children who consume peanuts at least once a week are less likely to be overweight or obese. Currently, 39% of the Mexican-American children are classified as overweight or obese, compared to the 32% of all children in the United States- a fact that prompts studies like this, that explore what factors and foods affect childhood obesity. Studies have long shown the health benefits of nut consumption for adults, aiding in lower lipid levels, lower body mass indices, and reduced risk of coronary artery disease. This study looks specifically at how these benefits relate to children. It ...
Forty years ago, nearly half of all students walked or biked to school. Now, only 14 percent do. Why the change? One major factor is school siting, the decisions school leaders make about where to build or rehabilitate schools. Over the past several decades, schools have increasingly been built on the outskirts of communities, too far from children’s homes for walking or biking to be practical. Meanwhile, obesity rates in children and adolescents have more than tripled, and a third of children are overweight or obese. Locating schools closer to where families live can make it easier for kids to walk and bike to school—and more convenient for families to use school fields and other facilities after hours, when school is closed. When it comes to ethnicity and socioeconomic ...
We at SaludToday would encourage you to watch this video that puts a unique spin on answering the question: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? The video comes from Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael's ...
The new Buena Salud book series presents the latest Latino health information and medical advances about individual diseases and conditions in a warm and conversational tone. Written by Dr. Jane L. Delgado, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the series sprinkles real-life stories throughout and are published simultaneously in English and Spanish to inform, support, and deliver advice that will guide a Latino readership towards better care of their health. The series launches with books on the top two health concerns for U.S. Latinos: heart disease and diabetes. Watch a WKYC-TV news report on the book series here or ...
The Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is joining others around the nation to improve Latino health as we recognize World Diabetes Day and on Nov. 14. Diabetes and obesity are some of top health issues facing Latinos in South Texas. The IHPR's South Texas Health Status Review identified obesity and diabetes disparities in the region, our Salud America! network targets Latino childhood obesity, and our SaludToday blog continues to highlight the latest research in these areas. Find out more about our efforts to improve Latino health here. Find resources on diabetes in English or ...
New research funded by The California Endowment finds that African-American and Latino boys and young men are much more likely to experience poor health outcomes than white boys and young men. Most of these differences in health are directly related to the neighborhoods where they grow up. "This research shows that the health of African-American and Latino boys stems from their neighborhoods, their schools, their environments being unhealthy," said Robert Phillips of The California Endowment. "According to the research, place and policy clearly matter to the health of these boys and young men. If we truly want to address the health issues they face, California needs to put its support behind public policies and programs that advocate for comprehensive, community-based ...
Newsweek has a new series that examining many aspects of Latino health barriers, including an article that looks into the Latino doctor shortage. The article has a great summary on the lack of Latino doctors:
By currently available census figures, 14.2 percent of the U.S. population is Latino, but they make up only about 6.4 percent of the students coming out of the country’s medical schools, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). That means there are roughly 3,000 Latino patients to each Latino physician. In comparison, for non-Latinos, the ratio is 335 patients to 1 doctor. That means that Latinos, who may not speak English as their first language and who may relate to medical professionals differently because of cultural reasons, are at risk of ...
For the first time, residents from Carolina to California can find out exactly how healthy their county is.
The health status of nearly every one of the nation's more than 3,000 counties is ranked in the new report, County Health Rankings: Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health, released Feb. 17 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute.
The rankings can be used to mobilize communities to improve health disparities. A USA Today story draws a few generalizations from the rankings:
Healthier counties tend to be urban and suburban, while most (84%) of the 50 least-healthy counties are rural, sparsely populated areas where care is poor and the economy is depressed. Rates of premature death are also significantly higher (2.5 ...
