The 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that 33%
of Mexican-American women and 28% of men were obese, as compared with 20% of non-Hispanic women. Adolescents aged 12-19 were 24% overweight as compared with non-Hispanic white adolescents at only 13%. And Latino children aged 6-11 were also likelier to be overweight than non-Hispanic black children at 20% and non-Hispanic white children at 12%.Obesity increases the risk of developing diabetes. Hispanics are also less likely to engage in physical activity. Physical inactivity further increases the risk of developing diabetes. Smoking was found to be higher among white adults at 25.3% than among Hispanic adults at 20.4%. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System found that a third of Hispanic children aged 9-12 were cigarette smokers and 19% were adult smokers. And racism subjects ethnic or minority groups to basic inequalities in social structure. This extends to health care where racism is at the root of the inequalities.
Gan, C. (2000). Latino Health Study. News Medical Center: UC Davis Health System.
Retrieved on August 14, 2009 from http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/news/Latino_preliminary
The author discusses the results of the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging or SALSA. University of California researchers reached out to the Latino community and health care providers. Their goal was to improve efforts at screening, treating and preventing diabetes in that community. They responded specifically to the prevalence of diabetes among older Latinos, which was at least twice as high as in Caucasians. They noted that diabetes was also more likely to be poorly controlled in that community with more adverse effects on daily life. The researchers drew from the results of a previous five-year health study of 1,800 Latinos over 59 years old in Sacramento.
SALSA had 1,789 respondents, of whom 30% had diabetes. While most diabetics have health insurance and undergo treatment, 38% of them do not monitor their blood sugar. This lack of control affects their physical and mental functions and daily activities. It can also produce or lead to serious complications, such as kidney disease, eye disease and peripheral vascular disease. Elderly diabetic Latinos were three times more prone to stroke, two times to kidney disease and 2.5 to hypertension than non-diabetic respondents in the SALSA study. It brought together a multidisciplinary group of physicians, researchers and community educators to a common focus. That focus was to prevent physical and cognitive decline among elderly Latinos.
Latinos are the fastest growing group of elderly in the U.S. who also more vulnerable to major illnesses than other Americans. Elderly Latinos, especially Mexicans, are a higher risk for diabetes, hypertension and obesity than elderly Caucasians. More studies are, thus, warranted on the health status and needs of this particular population.
The...
Disparities and Diabetes among Latinos The whole world is experiencing diabetes-related health disparities, co-morbidities and its complications. There is a wide range of literature available showing that ethnic and race minorities are at a greater risk of developing diabetes compared to the majority groups. The disparities are a result of a combination of factors; they are both clinical and biological. They are also strongly associated with the system of health and
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Frequent symptoms of either hypo or hyperglycemia may occur, but if symptoms are unknown to the woman may be associated with normal pregnancy announces and not followed up on. "The severity of the symptoms and the rate at which they develop may differ, depending on the type of diabetes." (Clark, 2004, p. 3) Increased urine production, glucose in the blood and urine, ketones (undigested protein) in the blood or
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