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TWELVE-PART SERIES GETS DOWN TO THE FACTS ABOUT CHILD NUTRITION IN THE LATINO COMMUNITY
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Tagged: children, NCLR, nutritionNCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, today introduced the third edition of its Profiles of Latino Health series, titled Profiles of Latino Health: A Closer Look at Child Nutrition. The 12-part weekly series will examine critical factors affecting Latino children’s nutrition, including trends in hunger and obesity, as well as family access to healthy foods and other resources that play important roles in children’s nutritional outcomes.
“Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that obesity rates—already alarmingly high—have increased yet again. The nation is also experiencing unprecedented rates of hunger, particularly in the wake of an economic crisis that has devastated many American families,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “America’s children are suffering as a result. As U.S. leaders combat the crises of childhood hunger and obesity, NCLR hopes to inform the national discussion by providing insight into trends within the Latino community.”
Understanding these trends is vital to finding solutions because Latinos, who make up the fastest-growing segment of the child population, are among the most at risk. Hispanic children currently make up more than one in five children in the U.S. and are expected to represent nearly one in three children by 2030. They are also the hungriest in America—composing almost 40% of the one million children living in hunger. Ironically, they have one of the highest risks of obesity; researchers estimate that nearly two-fifths (38.5%) of Latino children ages two to 19 were overweight or obese in 2008.
As part of its national strategy, NCLR has also convened a Latino Child Nutrition “Kitchen Cabinet,” an advisory group of its Affiliates and partners, organizations that are working at the national, state, and local levels to improve nutrition outcomes for America’s children. Formed to provide insight into solutions for Latino child hunger and obesity, many Kitchen Cabinet members provided their views on the urgency of keeping child nutrition at the top of the national agenda.
“For more than two decades, we’ve seen thousands of children grow and thrive, but we’ve also seen other children fall through the cracks, suffering from obesity and malnutrition,” said Maria Gomez, President and CEO of Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care. “These profiles from NCLR will become an essential working tool for us as we continue to address these pervasive health conditions among the young people in our Latino community.”
Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Research and Policy Director at Children’s HealthWatch, underscored the urgent need for policy solutions. “Over one-third of very young Latino children whose families were interviewed by Children’s HealthWatch live in households that struggle to put enough nutritious food on the table,” said Ettinger de Cuba. “Given the serious threat that food insecurity poses to children’s health, including a higher risk of poor health, hospitalizations, developmental delays, and iron-deficiency anemia, this is an issue that must be addressed.”
“Now more than ever, we need to find innovative ways to increase access to low-cost, healthy foods as well as resources and programs in communities most impacted by food insecurity and the obesity epidemic,” said Nestor Martinez, Health Program Specialist, California Project LEAN. “This will entail building partnerships and collaborations with both public and private organizations to seek solutions that go beyond individual behavior change and focus on policy and environmental change strategies. Furthermore, we can build the capacity of our communities most impacted—including Latinos and African Americans—to be part of the solution.”
NCLR is kicking off the series with “Issue 1: Child Hunger and Family Food Insecurity within the Latino Community,” which examines the ability of Latino families to consistently access sufficient healthy foods. In the weeks to come, NCLR will dive deeper into nutrition issues, and at the end of the 12-week series, NCLR will host a teleconference with Kitchen Cabinet members and other partners to discuss the research highlighted in the Profiles and its policy implications for Latino children and families.
Posted on: August 28th, 2010Curation from Tomás
Filed Under: Cultura, Cultura News, Food, Health, Press Releases, Tomás' Picks
