The Health of Latino Children

Abstract

Latinos recently became the largest racial/ethnic minority group of US children. The Latino Consortium of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research, consisting of 13 expert panelists, identified the most important urgent priorities and unanswered questions in Latino child health. Conclusions were drawn when consensus was reached among members, with refinement through multiple iterations. A consensus statement with supporting references was drafted and revised. This article summarizes the key issues, including lack of validated research instruments, frequent unjustified exclusion from studies, and failure to analyze data by pertinent subgroups. Latino children are at high risk for behavioral and developmental disorders, and there are many unanswered questions about their mental health needs and use of services. The prevalence of dental caries is disproportionately higher for Latino children, but the reasons for this disparity are unclear. Culture and language can profoundly affect Latino children's health, but not enough cultural competency training of health care professionals and provision of linguistically appropriate care occur. Latinos are underrepresented at every level of the health care professions. Latino children are at high risk for school dropout, environmental hazards, obesity, diabetes mellitus, asthma, lack of health insurance, nonfinancial barriers to health care access, and impaired quality of care, but many key questions in these areas remain unanswered. This article suggests areas in which more research is needed and ways to improve research and care of Latino children.

Is the Prevalence of Specific Types of Congenital Heart Defects Different for Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic Infants?

“…Studies show racial/ ethnic disparities in access to pediatric care and treatment received when care is obtained [29][30][31], revealing that Black children may be less likely to have their CHD diagnosed early in infancy than White children. However, studies report no statistically significant differences between Blacks and Whites in the age at diagnosis of CHD [24] or age at surgical repair for infants with CHD [24,32].…”

What Do We Know about Latino Drug Use? Methodological Evaluation of State Databases

“…In addition, most surveys have not included Spanish language questionnaires or interviewing, further limiting their coverage of Latino subgroups. Notwithstanding these methodological limitations, the value of ethnic identification as a preeminent and enduring source of social definition in health research is well established (Flores et al, 2001;Rivara & Finberg, 2001). The primary sources for national drug-use information about adolescents have been the federal sentinels: the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Monitoring the Future of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 2000).…”

ACCULTURATION AND LATINO HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES: A Review of the Literature and its Sociopolitical Context

“…First, important indicators of population health vary among Latinos of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latino origin or cultural heritage. For instance, mortality and prevalence rates of chronic illness vary among both Latino children and adults of these different subgroups (33,53,55,98,102). Second, wide ranges of factors have been explored to explain this heterogeneity.…”