The Texas Department of State Health Services has released the 2007 Health Risk Factors in the Texas-Mexico Border report. It considers factors such as access to health services, lifestyle, preventive care, chronic disease and mental health.
Reports
2007 Health Risk Factors in the Texas-Mexico Border
“Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism”
The fifth annual report, “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism,” from the Trust for America’s Health was released in December 2007. “Ready or Not?” includes state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities.
According to the report, Texas scored 8 out of the possible 10 points. Information on emergency preparedness in Texas (details in both English and Spanish) is available from the Texas Department of State Health Services at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/default.shtm
2006 National Immunization Survey Data Results Available
Results are now available from the Centers for Disease Control 2006 National Immunization Survey. Details are available about National, State, and Local Area vaccination rates.
2008 KIDS COUNT Data Available
From the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book is now available. Using the Data Book Online, you can generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles; or, download the entire data set. The KIDS COUNT Data Center includes the most recent statistical data available on Education, Employment and Income, Poverty, Health, Basic Demographics, and Youth Risk Factors for the U.S., all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and has data for the 50 largest U.S. cities.
The KIDS COUNT profile of Texas also includes statistics for San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, and Houston. The complete 2008 KIDS COUNT is also available for purchase or download in PDF format.
26 Million Americans with Diabetes
Last week the CDC issued a report that 11.3 percent of adults in the United States have diabetes. In a study reported last year the CDC estimated that, following the current trend, one in three adults in the US could have diabetes by 2050.
A Study on Coffee Drinking
A wonderful article has appeared on the Medical News Today website. Written by Catharine Paddock, PhD, it dives into some of the questions we all have had about the debate over the value, or hazards of coffee drinking. “There was a time when the only news about coffee and health was how it was bad for the heart, likely to give us ulcers and aggravate our nerves, but now it seems this popular beverage is receiving a more favorable kind of press.”
In the United States, we consume 1.3 metric tons per year, at a rate of 4.2 kg per person. The latest figures for 2012 suggest 65% of American adults drink coffee, placing the beverage “neck and neck with soft drinks”, says the National Coffee Association.
However, the researchers uncovering the good news are all saying the same thing: while there appear to be some health perks from drinking coffee, there are also a few cautions, and the evidence is not solid enough to actively encourage people to go out and drink coffee.
This article takes a good look at the shift in the research view on coffee consumption, touching on some of the key studies, and finishes off with some facts and figures about coffee and caffeine.
Copyright: Medical News Today
Brownsville-Matamoros Sister City Project for Women’s Health
The October issue of Preventing Chronic Disease has several reports of studies emerging from the “Brownsville-Matamoros Sister City Project for Women’s Health.” In their editorial, Brian Castrucci et al. reflect on the significance of this research:
“Compared with other Texas residents, Texans living in the US-Mexico border region experience higher rates of communicable disease and self-described fair or poor health, lower rates of physical activity, higher obesity prevalence, and greater limitations to accessing and obtaining health insurance. This issue of Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) explores challenges in maternal and reproductive health, using surveillance data collected through the Brownsville-Matamoros Sister City Project for Women’s Health (BMSCP), funded in 2005 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Four of the articles in this issue of PCD address the time periods before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after pregnancy. Analysis of the data presented in these articles creates an opportunity to understand the effect of different policies and practices on each side of the US-Mexico border, so each public health system can learn from the other and identify issues in which binational collaboration may be appropriate and necessary.”
Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics/Latinos 2009-2011
A report from the American Cancer Society provides a new profile for cancer among Hispanics. Although less likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from cancer, Hispanics have higher rates of cancers associated with infections including stomach, liver and cervical cancer.
CDC Feature notes significant health disparities among Hispanics/Latinos
Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month was celebrated from September 15 – October 15. In a “CDC Feature,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that despite the fact that more than 50 million Hispanics represent the largest ethnic minority in the United States, striking health disparities remain for this population. The disparities include the following:
- Only 37.3% of Hispanic/Latino persons under 65 had insurance coverage (2009 data).
- Adolescent pregnancy and birth rates were three times that of whites, and Hispanic/Latina women were more than twice as likely to have little or no prenatal care (2007 data).
- Hispanics/Latinos had a greater percentage of the total cases of tuberculosis than all other racial or ethnic groups (2007 statistics).
- Hispanics/Latinos were disproportionately affected by chlamydia and HIV/AIDS (2007 statistics).
- Influenza and pneumonia vaccination rates remain significantly lower among Hispanics/Latinos (2009 statistics).
- Diabetes rates among Hispanics/Latinos were nearly 1.5 times greater than for non-Hispanic whites (2009 statistics).
- Mexican American men aged 20-74 had a higher prevalence of overweight (79.2%) from 2005-2008 than non-Hispanic white men (72.9% overweight); or non-Hispanic black men (71.8% overweight).
The complete CDC Feature, including links to additional information about Hispanic health, is available at http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HispanicHeritageMonth/.
