South Texas

Football and C-Spine Injuries

In the wake of the extremely serious cervical spine injury sustained by Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett in a game against the Denver Broncos earlier this month, coaches and trainers are reinforcing their emphasis on techniques to reduce head & neck injuries in football. Here in South Texas, where football is a way of life beginning at a very young age, health information professionals can help by providing players, coaches, trainers and parents with current and authoritative materials on the risks and the best practices for preventing injury. Here are some suggestions:

Please add additional resource suggestions in the comments section.

Posted in News, South Texas, Staying Well. Connected., Youth | Comments Off

Forecast: 90% of Mexico’s population overweight/obese by 2018

A recent report by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) indicates that if current trends continue over the next ten years, the percentage of the Mexican population considered overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) or obese (BMI over 30) could rise as high as 90% by 2018.

Although the press release indicates the percentage of Mexico’s population that is overweight or obese places it second only to the US in that category, that ranking may change soon if it has not already. The 2006 Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición placed that figure at nearly 70% for adults over age 20 in Mexico, compared with 66% for US adults over age 20 published in NCHS’s 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

In the IMSS press release, specialists from the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics at the IMSS’s Centro Médico Nacional La Raza indicate that globalization has brought to Mexico not only lifestyle changes, but also changes in nutritional habits:

“We are suffering a dietary transition, in which we are changing our nutritional habits, leaving aside the traditional diet, which was based on grains, corn and … giving way to the culture of fast-food diets,” confirmed nutritionist Dr Georgina Nanclares Delgado.

Dr Rosa María Andrade García said Mexicans’ diets are becoming more and more like those of industrialized countries like the United States and China. At the same time, sedentary lifestyles are becoming strongly prevalent. “This transculturization is affecting us, we are taking on behaviors of other countries which really bring a certain type of diet which harms us, consuming large quantities of energy [calories], proteins and supersaturated fats, but with little fiber, vitamins and minerals,” she indicated.

Posted in Hispanic health, Reports, South Texas, Spanish Language Content, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Free self-defense classes for women

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office is offering a series of free self-defense classes for women, according to an article in Friday’s The Monitor. The classes, which will meet on Tuesday evenings at the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s
Academy on Cibolo Road in Edinburg will teach protective stances and striking techniques, as well as how to escape from attackers.

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Freestanding Children’s Hospital One Step Closer for San Antonio

San Antonio is a step closer to having a freestanding academic children’s hospital of its own.  A letter of intent has been signed between CHRISTUS Santa Rosa and University Health System to build the hospital, although the exact location for the structure is not yet known.  Expecting to cost around $450 million, the facility will allow many different services and doctors to be housed under one roof, thereby reducing the travel that families of children with serious conditions often have to endure when visiting multiple facilities in order to receive services.

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Greysi Reyna Honored at AHEC Celebration

Greysi Reyna at AHEC Anniversary Celebration

Last night Greysi Reyna, Assistant Director for the Ramirez  Library in Harlingen, was honored at an event celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program at the UT Health Science Center. Armando Lopez, Director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley AHEC, presented the plaque with Dr. Adela Gonzalez, Executive Director for the Center for South Texas Programs, officiating. Greysi has a 15-year affiliation with the AHEC program, beginning in 1995 with her appointment as circuit librarian for the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Posted in South Texas, Staying Well. Connected., UTHSCSA Library News | Comments Off

H1N1 Vaccine Arriving in SA, South Texas

This morning the San Antonio Express News and Valley Morning Star are reporting the arrival of H1N1 vaccines. The initial quantities are less than anticipated.

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Halloween Candy Buy-Back

Here’s an interesting public health idea that I hadn’t come across before. Last week, on the day after Halloween, Driscoll Children’s Hospital’s Orthodontics Department in Corpus Christi held a Halloween Candy Buy-Back. The organizers paid kids $2 per pound (with a 5-pound limit) to hand over their candy. Dr Deji Fashemo BDS MPH explains, “We can’t do anything orthodontically unless kids have strong healthy teeth and good gums,” and says he hopes the event will educate youngsters on the bad things candy can do to teeth, and encourage them to moderate their candy-eating and especially stay away from sticky, hard candies and taffy-like candies.

A little websearching suggests that Halloween Candy Buy-Back events like this are now happening all over the country, including one group of dentists across the US and Canada who bought back candy for $1 a pound and then sent it off to overseas soldiers. Regardless of the direct effect of such an event on kids’ candy intake, it certainly seems like an interesting and effective way to promote awareness and discussion about the effects of candy on dental health!

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Health comparisons and disparities in South Texas

The new South Texas Health Status Review, recently published by the UT HSC’s Institute for Health Promotion Research, provides a comprehensive, statistical comparison of health factors in South Texas with the rest of the state and country.

The review is available in PDF format from the Institute’s website at http://ihpr.uthscsa.edu/rpt_toc.html.

Posted in Hispanic health, Minority health, Reports, South Texas, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Health Literacy & Winter Texans

It’s that time of year again: the Great Migration has begun, and the RVs can be spotted headed southbound on I-35, I-37, US-77 and US-281. Although the high fuel prices might mean fewer Winter Visitors this year, South Texas will once again welcome thousands of retirees escaping the Frozen North (today’s forecast for MN-WI-upper MI: 6-10″ of lake effect snow, but Harlingen’s looking mostly sunny with a high of 89!).

To help us serve Winter Texans’ health information needs, the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has just released a helpful tool called the Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults. In a national assessment of health literacy, only three percent of the older adults surveyed were found to be proficient in health literacy. Persons with limited health literacy have more adverse health outcomes including less frequent use of preventive services, higher hospitalization rates, and more emergency room visits. For older Americans, difficulties with health literacy can complicate already challenging health problems since as many as 80 percent of older Americans have at least one chronic disease. The Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults is designed to provide useful strategies and suggestions to professionals who work with older adults to help bridge the communication gap between professionals and older adults. [thanks to Siobhan for the tip]

Posted in South Texas, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Health Lotería #11: La estrella

La estrellaWell, after a bit of an unplanned break, we’re back again with the Health Lotería. This week we feature “la estrella” [the star] — because here in South Texas it’s nearly time for a very important annual event: Operation Lone Star.

This year, 2008, marks the tenth year for this cooperative program of the Texas Armed Forces, the Health and Human Services Commission, and many other volunteers. Over the course of two weeks — from July 28 to August 8 — the program will offer medical and dental services and health information, totally free of charge, to the entire community at eight sites in seven counties across South Texas.

This HHSC press release and this article from the Rio Grande Guardian explain Operation Lone Star, but the most important questions are: Where and when? Here are the important details, and if you click on the links, you will find maps for the service locations:

Clinics open from July 28 to August 1:
Brownsville: Raul A Besteiro Middle School, 6280 Southmost Road
Mission/La Joya: Cesar Chavez Middle School, Expressway 83 and Showers Road
Raymondville: Raymondville High School, One Bearkat Lane
San Juan: PSJA High School, 805 W. Ridge Road

Clinics open from August 4 to August 8:
Laredo: United South High School, 4001 Avenida Los Presidentes
Rio Grande City: Fort Ringgold Middle School, Fort Ringgold Campus
Zapata: Zapata Middle School, 17th Avenue and Carla Street

Clinic open from August 6 to August 8:
Hebbronville: Hebbronville Middle School, 910 N. Willhelma

This is a great opportunity and a very important program — please help spread the word!

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