Health Promotion in the Hispanic Population
William Hoff II
Grand canyon university
Family Centered Health Promotion
NRS-429V
Jennifer Wood
April 26, 2015

Health Promotion in the Hispanic Population
Many of the health disparities vary from one of the many minorities to the next. Does race, educational status, socioeconomic statues, or ethnicity have anything to do with it? This paper with focus on the Hispanic community as a whole and see what specific challenges they face and what the community is health care community is doing to address it.
In 2013 the US consisted of 54 million Hispanics. That is about 17% of the national population and it’s expected to rise to 31% by 2060 ("Hispanic or Latino Populations," 2015, para 1). When surveyed in 2010 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) it was found that Mexican-American adult women were twice as likely as female adult Caucasians and Diabetes rates were higher in adults of a Hispanic or African American heritage than adults of white non-Hispanic or Asian decent ("Hispanic or Latino Populations," 2015, para. 5). Even more alarming on average 31.5% of Hispanic adults over twenty have Cardiovascular disease second only to African Americans ("American Heart Association," 3013, p. 1). In 2012 23.3% students in high school and elementary school were Hispanic, but in colleges that same year they were only 6.8% ("Hispanic or Latino Populations," 2015, para. 4). Also 29.1% of Hispanic adults did not have health insurance in 2012 compared to the lower rates of their non-Hispanic white counter parts ("Hispanic or Latino Populations," 2015, para. 3). It is clear that education and jobs that provide healthcare are a huge problem that fuels many of these statistics.
Often when people. While this is often true in 2011 a study showed that two out of three Hispanic children consumed almost daily chips, soda, pizza, desert, and hamburgers ("Obesity Prevention in Latino Communities," 2014, para. 6). So the cultural norms of diet are changing as they become Americanized. This may not be a good thing though. These foods are calorie-dense, low in fiber, high in fat sodium, and carbohydrates. These are the foods that are the roots of obesity, cardiac disease, and diabetes. In part, this is because there is a link between income and food choice. Often the less expensive options that are purchased to help stretch budgets are lower in nutritional quality. Low-income Latino families spend about one-third of their income on food. With such a large amount of money going to food it is difficult to afford a nutritious meal for everyone, especially when 23% of Latino families are in poverty compare to whites. Also for the last 30 years Latinos have earned only 1$ for every 2$ earned by white Americans so there is a huge socioeconomic disparity ("Obesity Prevention in Latino Communities," 2014, para. 10). Between the low college rates and immigration laws constantly in limbo obtaining a good paying career to correct this has be difficult to say the least.
27% of adult Latinos have no usual place they seek health care and this number jumps up to 49% if that person has lived in the US for less than five years ("Hispanics and Health Care in the United States," 2008, para. 9). This creates a very challenging situation for health promotion. But when you look the current health status and health promotion in the Latino, it’s not as great as you would expect. Many in the community feel they receive poor treatment things that are not easily changed. 31% attribute poor treatment to their financial limitation, 29% feel this poor treatment is because of their race or ethnicity, and 23% report that their accent or their limited English contributed to their sub par treatment.
When addressing primary, secondary, and tertiary health promotion and prevention the first is more important the latter two. While secondary and tertiary care should always be available, looking at primary care especially on the scale of the Hispanic community the answer is not a simple one. Community centers need to be more approachable with primary care in the form of written education in different languages, assistance becoming a citizen, or food banks offering options on donated fruits or vegetables. None of this is likely to happen with out funding on the government level. It is the diets and lack of education at the core of the problem.
We need to educate the Latino community about healthy diets and disease preventions before any changes occur, but none of this can happen with how hesitant they feel about the medical community. It is our job be approachable and educate whenever a opportunity presents it self. Even more the medical community needs to hold itself accountable to address the discrepancies for poor care. It is our job to offer unbiased care.

References
Hispanics/Latinos & CVD - 2013 Statistical Fact Sheet . (3013). Retrieved April 26,2015, from http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@sop/@smd/documents/downloadable/ucm_319572.pdf
Pew Research Center. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/08/13/hispanics-and-health-care-in-the-united-states-access-information-and-knowledge/
Racial & Ethnic Minorities. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/REMP/hispanic.html
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity. (2014). Retrieved from http://stateofobesity.org/disparities/latinos/