Review of Body Mass Index Reduction Interventions among Mexican Origin Latinos and Latinas

Objectives: A literature review was conducted to identify factors associated with successful Body Mass Index (BMI) reduction interventions for Mexican origin US Hispanic/Latino populations. Data Source: An academic database search was conducted of peer-reviewed literature primarily in public health, medical anthropology, medical sociology, and biomedical databases. The key search words used were “Latino or Hispanic or Mexican”, in combination with “intervention”, “obesity”, “body mass index”, “weight reduction”, “best practices” and “lessons learned”. Inclusion Criteria: The inclusion criteria included an intervention protocol, with BMI measures, and a majority of participants identified as Mexican origin Hispanics. Search results yielded a total of 118 articles with 19 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Results: The review found that education and the use of culturally tailored/sensitive materials are important factors in BMI reduction. In addition, the study found that family centered and community based approaches are some of the most successful evidence based practices found in the Latino health literature. Conclusions: Obesity and its sequelae disproportionately impact both US and non-US Latino/ Hispanic communities and have life-long and intergenerational consequences. The findings from this review may serve as a guide to the development of more successful interventions and best practices to address the needs of Mexican origin Latino populations

Contextualizing the Relationship between Culture and Puerto Rican Health: Towards a Place-Based Framework of Minority Health Disparities

In both the culture of poverty literature and the acculturation literature, Puerto Ricans are portrayed in negative terms. The culture of poverty framework attributes Puerto Rican poverty to the mental, behavioral, and moral pathology of Puerto Rican individuals and to Puerto Rican culture. Similarly, outdated acculturation frameworks also trace the poor health of immigrants and racialized minorities, such as Puerto Ricans, to equivalent perceived deficiencies. In this paper, we argue that both the culture of poverty and acculturation frameworks are two pillars of the White Racial Frame (Feagin 2009) that sustains racial inequality in the United States. To build our case, we provide an overview of Puerto Rican physical health disparities and highlight key findings. Then, we analyze this literature using natural language processing (NLP) tools to examine the lexicon of words that scholars use to understand such disparities. Our literature review shows that Puerto Ricans are generally doing worse than other groups across a range of health indicators. Results from the NLP analyses reveal that the lexicon of the culture of poverty and outdated notions of acculturation are rhetorical tools that scholars still use to make sense of these conditions. We conclude by arguing that moving away from a White Racial Frame of Puerto Rican health requires a theoretical model that puts race, place, and culture within a multilevel framework that we call the Racialized Place Inequality Framework

The effects of teaching complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences : Evidence from a dual site cluster trial with at-risk Grade 2 students

We evaluated the impact of teaching complex grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPC) derived from the Simplicity Principle to at-risk poor readers in Grade 2 classrooms, using a two-arm dual site matched control trial intervention. Poor word readers (n = 149) were allocated to either a) Simplicity GPC (n= 79) or b) Letter-Name Control (n= 70) small group reading programs, and received intervention for 12–15 hours over 12 weeks. Students were matched on baseline reading, language, parent demographics, and observed regular classroom teaching quality. Results of hierarchical data modeling showed advantages for the GPC-group for word reading, pseudoword reading, and sentence comprehension at post-test moderated by pre-test phonological awareness skills. The results provide support for teaching complex GPCs derived from the Simplicity Principle as an approach to intervention for word reading, but suggest that children with low PA need additional supports

Digitalización para la comercialización de servicios de hospedaje y turismo: De los justos reclamos del sector hotelero a la realidad del mercado

El sector turístico colombiano tiene el potencial para trasformar y beneficiar a gran parte de la población; sin embargo, políticas regulatorias con enfoque en la restricción de la competencia han hecho que subsectores como el hotelero tengan cargas desproporcionadas que, ante el ingreso de nuevos actores, han visto una amenazada su participación en el mercado. Sectores tradicionales han tenido que sobrevivir en medio de regulaciones fuertes que no entienden las realidades de los mercados; no obstante, el escenario de regulación del turismo tendrá que progresar hacia las demandas y ofertas que se están promoviendo a través de las plataformas virtuales, como el alojamiento web P2P (Barradas y Pinto, s. f.)[1] Peer to Peer. La regulación no podrá seguir considerándose como una herramienta caprichosa utilizada por el Estado para imponer su visión del mercado; las nuevas tendencias en materia de promoción harán que el sector de alojamiento se promocione a través de plataformas que, por su domicilio, escapen a la jurisdicción del Estado. Por ello, de no considerarse una regulación liviana e inteligente, el Estado perderá su protagonismo.   [1] Un Peer-to-Peer, o P2P, en economía, es un modelo descentralizado por el cual dos individuos interactúan para comprar o vender bienes y servicios directamente entre sí, sin la intermediación de un tercero, o sin el uso de una empresa de negocios. El comprador y el vendedor realizan transacciones directamente entre sí. Gracias a ello, el productor posee tanto sus herramientas (o medios de producción) como su producto terminado

Aptidão cardiorrespiratória, composição corporal de escolares e estruturas físicas para prática de atividades físicas

This cross-sectional study aims to compare the level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and the body composition of 393 school children, with and without physical structure in the school environment for physical and sports activities in Santa Cruz do Sul - RS. Regarding CRF levels, it is observed that schoolchildren, both male and female, who study in study in schools with presence of sports structures in their environment have better values. There was no relation between infrastructure and body composition in school children. It’s concluded that schoolchildren of both sexes who study in schools with sports structures in their surroundings present higher levels of CRF compared to schoolchildren belonging to schools with a low presence of sports structures.O presente estudo transversal objetiva comparar o nível de aptidão cardiorrespiratória (APCR) e a composição corporal de 393 escolares, pertencentes a escolas com e sem estrutura física no entorno para a prática de atividades físicas e esportivas em Santa Cruz do Sul - RS. Os níveis de APCR de escolares, tanto do sexo masculino, quanto do feminino, são superiores no ambiente que possui maior quantidade de estruturas esportivas em seu entorno. Não foi observada relação entre a infraestrutura e a composição corporal dos escolares. Conclui-se que escolares, de ambos os sexos, que estudam em escolas com estruturas esportivas em seu entorno, apresentam maiores níveis de APCR, em comparação aos escolares pertencentes às escolas com baixa presença de estruturas esportivas

Contextualizing the Relationship between Culture and Puerto Rican Health: Towards a Place-Based Framework of Minority Health Disparities

In both the culture of poverty literature and the acculturation literature, Puerto Ricans are portrayed in negative terms. The culture of poverty framework attributes Puerto Rican poverty to the mental, behavioral, and moral pathology of Puerto Rican individuals and to Puerto Rican culture. Similarly, outdated acculturation frameworks also trace the poor health of immigrants and racialized minorities, such as Puerto Ricans, to equivalent perceived deficiencies. In this paper, we argue that both the culture of poverty and acculturation frameworks are two pillars of the White Racial Frame (Feagin 2009) that sustains racial inequality in the United States. To build our case, we provide an overview of Puerto Rican physical health disparities and highlight key findings. Then, we analyze this literature using natural language processing (NLP) tools to examine the lexicon of words that scholars use to understand such disparities. Our literature review shows that Puerto Ricans are generally doing worse than other groups across a range of health indicators. Results from the NLP analyses reveal that the lexicon of the culture of poverty and outdated notions of acculturation are rhetorical tools that scholars still use to make sense of these conditions. We conclude by arguing that moving away from a White Racial Frame of Puerto Rican health requires a theoretical model that puts race, place, and culture within a multilevel framework that we call the Racialized Place Inequality Framework

The (In)Significance Of Race And Discrimination Among Latino Youth: The Case Of Depressive Symptoms

Despite the growing population of Latinos in the United States, there is little research that explores how discrimination affects the mental health of Latino youth along racial lines. In this paper we ask two closely related questions. First, do black Latino youth have higher or lower symptoms of depression than nonblack Latinos? Second, is the relationship between race and depression among Latino youth buffered by discrimination stress? Results from the Transitions Study show that black Latino youth have significantly higher symptoms of depression than nonblack Latinos. The relationship between race and depression depends on daily-but not on lifetime-experiences of discrimination. The combined effect of race and discrimination holds in the face of a wide range of measures of stress, including major lifetime events, recent life events, and chronic stressors. These findings encourage future research that considers the mental health effects of racial variation among Latinos. © 2009, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Residential Segregation, Socioeconomic Status, And Disability: A Multi-Level Study Of Puerto Ricans In The United States

Although socioeconomic status (SES) is hypothesized to be one of the key mechanisms that links segregation to health, there are no multilevel studies that examine if SES mediates the relationship between segregation and disability among Puerto Ricans across the U.S. This paper introduces the Racialized Place Inequality Framework and addresses three questions: Does segregation affect the likelihood that Puerto Ricans have a disability? Are higher levels of segregation associated with lower SES? Does SES mediate the relationship between segregation and disability? Multilevel results from the 2008-2010 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2000 U.S. Census show that segregation (1) increases individuals\u27 probability of having a disability, (2) is associated with lower levels of SES, and (3) affects disability directly and indirectly through SES. These findings indicate that segregation is a powerful upstream-macro level social structure that continues to limit the life chances of people of color in the U.S. through SES

Contextualizing the COVID-19 Era in Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters and Parallel Pandemics

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating parallel pandemics that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being. Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the fiscal pandemic, and health care challenges to provide a more nuanced portrait of existing compounding factors that negatively affect the health and well-being of older adults in the era of COVID-19. Results: We highlight two main factors that exacerbate pre-pandemic inequities experienced by the older adult population amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico: 1) the impact of multiple and compounding disasters; and 2) health care challenges. Discussion: The human suffering of the Puerto Rican population is compounded by the consequences of fiscal austerity, increasing levels of income and wealth inequality, the debt crisis, significant emigration, and a dysfunctional health care system. Future governmental actions are required to lessen the burden of parallel pandemics on older adults in Puerto Rico

Contextualizing the COVID-19 Era in Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters and Parallel Pandemics

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating parallel pandemics that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being. Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the fiscal pandemic, and health care challenges to provide a more nuanced portrait of existing compounding factors that negatively affect the health and well-being of older adults in the era of COVID-19. Results: We highlight two main factors that exacerbate pre-pandemic inequities experienced by the older adult population amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico: 1) the impact of multiple and compounding disasters; and 2) health care challenges. Discussion: The human suffering of the Puerto Rican population is compounded by the consequences of fiscal austerity, increasing levels of income and wealth inequality, the debt crisis, significant emigration, and a dysfunctional health care system. Future governmental actions are required to lessen the burden of parallel pandemics on older adults in Puerto Rico