Latino And Latin Americans

The Hispanic cultures view on obesity or having a fuller and heavier child differs from an American’s perspective. Like many cultures around the world, hefty version of themselves is a sign of wealth and opulence. This belief is passed down to their children. Hispanic and Latino mothers believe a heavier child is a good idea and it shows healthy development. “Culture can influence the perception of risk associated with obesity. Studies of Latinos have found that many mothers of obese children believe their child to be healthy and are unconcerned about their child's weight, although these same parents are likely to believe that obese children in general should be taken to a nutritionist or physician for help with weight reduction.” (Caprio

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group, estimated to be 54 million living in the United States of America. (Office of Minority Health and Health Equity). They work very hard to make both ends meet and also to stay in good health. They are relatively as a source of cheap labor in the American labor market This paper will dwell more on the Hispanic current Health status, how health promotion is described by the group and what health disparities exists for this group.

Based on the United States census, it is estimated that by the year 2050 one in three people living in the United Sates will be of Hispanic/Latino origin which include sub groups like Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Central Americans, and South Americans (Heart Association, 2014). Within those subgroups, the prevalence varied for people of Mexican descent from as high of 18.3 percent to as low as 10.3 percent for people of South American descent, Dominicans and Puerto Rican descent 18.1 percent, Central American descent and Cubans descent 13.4 percent all living in the United States with diabetes type 2. On another commentary being published in the same issue of Diabetes Care, the author wrote, “the differences in diabetes and obesity prevalence among Latinos subgroups are marked when all individuals are combined into a single group” (Heart Association, 2014). Diabetes in Latino Americans has become more prevalence with aging, by the time they reach the age of 70 years, 44.3 percent of Latino men age 70 years old to 74 years old will have develop diabetes. The same study also indicated that the longer Latino Americans live in the United States the more likely they will develop diabetes, that is according to the education and income level of the person. The study also shows

outcome of obesity in this community, there needs to be a sufficient understand of Hispanic

In 2013-2014 37.7% of adults 20 years of age and older in the U.S were obese. Among racial ethnic groups white Non -Hispanics had the lowest rate of obesity at 36.4%. Black and Hispanics populations had rates of 48.4% and 42.6% nationally. The rate for Black non- Hispanic groups were 1.5 times higher than the rate for white non- Hispanic groups.("Healthy People 2020," 2014, p. 3).

There is a significant difference between Latinos and Hispanics, but they are also exceedingly closely related. It is important to remember that these terms refer to ethnicity, not race. Latinos and Hispanics are two different words that may or may not mean the same thing. Some people say Hispanics are those descending from Spain and speak Spanish. Others say it is not the same because Latinos include people from Latin American countries. Since this would include non-Spanish speaking countries it is not the same as Hispanic. So technically speaking you can be one without the other but a person can also be both.

Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the

The Hispanic community in the largest minority in the USA and the fastest growing, it is also one with a high incidence of preventable diseases such as Diabetes, periodontitis, colorectal cancer and HIV. Obesity and teen age pregnancy are significantly more prevalent in Hispanic/Latino population as well. Rate of vaccination is also below that of the majority of the population. Addressing their health care makes good public health and economic sense.

including the Earned Income Tax Credit ( EITC) and the Child Tax Credit ( CTC) that directly

The history of Hispanic/Latino Americans extends the whole way back to 400 years ago and differs between the regions in the United States. Their existence is the second longest, right behind Native Americans. It is not unusual to hear Spanish being spoken while walking down the roads of an American city. Less than 4 million U.S. citizens were from Spanish-speaking countries in 1950. If we look at this number today, it has gone up to 45 million people. About 50 percent of Hispanics have backgrounds in Mexico, while the other 50 percent come from an assortment of countries. These countries include Colombia, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. About 36 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. live in California. Many Hispanics populate states including

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group and there are estimated to be about 54 million living in the United States (Office of Minority Health & Health Equity, YEAR). The Hispanics are a minority group that struggle every day to survive, to provide for their families, to stay healthy and to live quality lives. This paper will discuss the Hispanics current health status, how health promotion is defined by the Hispanics and what health disparities exist for the Hispanics. Lastly, this paper will discuss the three levels of health prevention and their effectiveness given the unique

There are many health disparities that exist among the Hispanic population. Many of these are chronic conditions that affect the population. Obesity is one of the many examples of conditions that have increased for the Hispanic population. The CDC (2014) states, “The prevalence of obesity among female Mexican American adults during 2007–2010 was larger than the prevalence among female white, non-Hispanic adults during the same years” (p. 1). This is one of the many statistics that show an example of a health disparity in the Hispanic population. Another example of a problem that is prevalent in the Hispanic community is the health promotion and screening rates. The CDC (2014) states, “A smaller percentage of Hispanic adults aged 50-75 years reported being up-to-date with colorectal cancer screening in 2010 than their non-Hispanic adult counterparts”

Mexican communities are attacked by the disease diabetes strongly due to that there is a high level of obesity among this culture. Diabetes has become of great danger to the lives of these people. Since consideration of what they eat and the effects it might cause is of less importance to them. Healthy eating for the Mexican community means indulging in all the tasty food that there is without putting a limit or consideration of its risk. Increasing the obesity there is and proving that “Mexico has become one of the most overweight countries on earth, even more so than the United States” (H.T.). These people are at a higher propensity to develop diabetes easily. This is bound to the eating of “salty, fatty foods and drinking sugar-heavy fizzy

Hispanics have a higher incidence of diabetes related to obesity and this is up 39% among Hispanics from 1990-1998. Because of the lifestyle and poor glycemic control, and obesity, Hispanic youth are at high risk of diabetes related co-morbidities. Treatment with metformin has been associated with prevention of pre-diabetes to post diabetes along with lifestyle modification (Woo &Wynne, 2012).

The increase in overweight in the United States has disproportionately affected African-Americans, compared to other ethnic groups. It has been estimated that “45 percent of the non-Hispanic black population is obese compared to 30 percent of non-Hispanic whites” (Bennett, Wolin & James, 2007). Members of low socioeconomic groups, especially African-American, Hispanics and American Indians are unreasonably affected (Wang 2010).