Public health

RECENT POSTS

October 18, 2010 | 11:11 AM | By

In the news this morning: The PA hate crime conviction, the EPA and communities of color, a birthright citizenship bill, more

Soul-searching in Shenandoah – Opinion – The Times-Tribune On the conviction last week of two young Pennsylvania men for the hate-crime beating death of undocumented immigrant Luis Ramirez in 2008.

Smuggler who used Lynwood ‘drop house’ can get 10 years – Long Beach Press-Telegram When a search warrant was served on the Lynwood house, 37 undocumented immigrants were found inside.

EPA’s “environmental justice” tour comes to California – Los Angeles Times New EPA chief Lisa Jackson: “Too often it’s the poor and minority communities who have little voice in environmental decisions, but live in the shadow of the worst pollution.”

Disney should lead the way on acceptance of Muslim clothing and customs – Los Angeles Times An interesting take on Disney and the two female Muslim employees who have pressed the company on their right to wear hijab at work.

Supreme Court to hear Ashcroft appeal of US Muslim’s detention – Christian Science Monitor The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be held responsible for the wrongful detention and interrogation of Abdullah Al-Kidd, a former college football star.

First Read – Angle to Latino teens: ‘You look a little more Asian to me’ – msnbc.com On GOP Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle address to a group of Hispanic students.

Political Insider: Russell Pearce begins work on a new immigration law – The Arizona Republic The architect of SB 1070 has teamed up again with law professor Kris Kobach, who helped draft the bill, to put together a new bill challenging the automatic right to U.S. citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Los Angeles County, Public health, SB 1070
October 13, 2010 | 3:11 PM | By

CDC report: Latinas live longer

Photo by Seattle Municipal Archives/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Doctors with patient, Seattle, 1999

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released its first-ever report on Hispanic life expectancy, and the long-life winners are Latinas, whose life expectancy tops the list at 83.1 years.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics issued its “United States Life Tables by Hispanic Origin” today, with the tables based on 2006 death rate data.

Among the groups compared in the report, Hispanic females have the highest life expectancy at birth (83.1 years), followed by non-Hispanic white females (80.4 years), Hispanic males (77.9 years), non-Hispanic black females (76.2 years), non-Hispanic white males (75.6 years), and non-Hispanic black males (69.2 years).

Latinos live longer in general: According to the report, life expectancy at birth for the total population in 2006 was 77.7 years; 80.6 years for the Hispanic population, 78.1 years for the non-Hispanic white population, and 72.9 years for the non-Hispanic black population.

The reasons why aren’t clear, though much has been made of the “Latino paradox,” the lower mortality rate of Latinos versus non-Latino whites, despite having a poorer socioeconomic profile.

Some researchers have attributed the health paradox to factors ranging from immigration (i.e. that those who choose to leave home are presumably in good health) to a healthier lifestyle, with less fast food, smoking and drinking. As Latino immigrants assimilate culturally in terms of lifestyle, however, whatever protection the latter offers is believed to drop off.

The full life-expectancy report is available here.

FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Public health
October 5, 2010 | 8:57 AM | By

In the news this morning: Whitman recaps, criminal deportations, 200 Mexico photos, the Latino health paradox and more

After allegations, reconstructing Whitman’s immigration stance | California Watch Just what has Meg Whitman said in the past regarding employers and illegal immigration?

Study: Fewer immigrants coming to Los Angeles – San Jose Mercury News A USC study shows a decline in the city’s foreign-born.

From housekeepergate to real policy: the tricky navigation of immigration in the midterm election | 89.3 KPCC From yesterday’s Patt Morrison show: Whitman’s “housekeepergate” controversy shows how unprepared political leaders are to deal with it the complicated subject of immigration.

Deportation of criminals is up, say feds | Sacramento Bee Federal data shows that of the 350,000 people  deported this year, more than half had criminal convictions, a 55 percent increase since 2008

Notorious Tijuana jail to be just a dark memory – latimes.com The fetid jail is where drunken Americanos used to land, too.

200 photos for 200 years of Mexico – latimes.com Photos from staff writer Christopher Reynolds, taken during about two dozen trips over the last 20 years.

Meg Whitman’s maid and immigration reform – latimes.com An opinion piece that questions Whitman’s “100% against amnesty for illegal immigrants” stance.

Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: Unraveling the Latino Paradox What is it that makes Latinos relatively healthier and longer-living compared with other ethnic groups?

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Economy, Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Gubernatorial race, Public health, U.S.-Mexico border, Underground economy
September 2, 2010 | 8:08 AM | By

In the news this morning: More migrant kidnappings, grief in Latin America, another head scarf lawsuit and more

Police: Human smugglers kidnap 16 migrants in Mexico – CNN.com (edition.cnn.com)

Immigrants’ Oral Histories Going Online – NYTimes.com (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)

The Associated Press: Poll: Ariz. voters favor immigration enforcement (google.com)

Immigration agency ponders S.F. opt-out request (San Francisco Chronicle)

Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Firebrands: Fueled by Out-of-Staters – TIME (Time Magazine)

New York Muslim leaders defend Islam – Los Angeles Times (articles.latimes.com)

Abercrombie & Fitch sued over Muslim scarf (San Francisco Chronicle)

Police rescue kidnapped Cuban migrants – Cuba – MiamiHerald.com (Miami Herald)

Illegal Immigration to U.S. Slows Sharply – WSJ.com (Wall Street Journal)

Grief Across Latin America for Migrant Killings – NYTimes.com (The New York Times)

Cancer Screening for Women of Color Threatened in California Budget Battle – COLORLINES (colorlines.com)

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Public health, SB 1070, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
August 5, 2010 | 9:54 AM | By

In the news this morning

With Arizona and SB 1070 mostly off the radar for now, there’s a little more variety this week in immigration-related news, and the debate over the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship is at the top of the list.

  • Politico has several reports on the movement to revise the 14th Amendment as more GOP lawmakers join in. Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, who introduced SB 1070, in quoted in one story as saying, “it doesn’t take a constitutional amendment. It just takes a clarification.” In another story, Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal finds himself getting dragged into the debate on account of his own background as the U.S.-born child of Indian parents.
  • On the good-news front, Latino and Asian L.A. County residents can make a toast to health and long life: The Los Angeles Times has a story on a new county health report’s findings that despite high numbers of uninsured, fewer county residents are succumbing to chronic illnesses. Among ethnic groups, Asians had the lowest death rate. Latinos had a lower death rate than black and white residents. A “Latino paradox” – in which less smoking and healthier eating (for the first generation, at least) outweigh low income and lack of insurance – is cited as a possible explanation.
  • Back to immigration, a Marketplace segment featured an American Nobel Laureate’s bizarre solution to the visa shortage: Auction off green cards to the highest bidder, with those who can’t afford it up front able to borrow and eventually pay off their debt. Of course, paying off debts incurred to come to the United States – in this case, to smugglers – is nothing new.
  • There are also a couple of interesting opinion pieces that deal with the role of race in the immigration debate, one involving SB 1070 by Arizona writer Terry Greene Sterling in the Orlando Sentinel and another on CNN.com – this one regarding the birthright citizenship issue – by regular contributor David Gewirtz.
  • Lastly, The Monitor of McAllen, Tex. reported on a new study out of Syracuse University showing, as has been previously reported, that deportations under the Obama administration are exceeding those under the Bush administration. The university’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse analyzed newly released data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
FILED UNDER: Economy, Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Los Angeles County, Public health, SB 1070, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Underground economy
July 25, 2010 | 8:41 PM | By

Patt Morrison explores ‘food deserts’ in South L.A

Navigating LA’s Food Deserts: Airs 7/26 @ 1 PM from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.
The lack of healthy food options in low-income communities, where cheap fast food is often more easily found than fresh produce, has been blamed for a variety of public health problems, including a higher prevalence of diabetes among racial and ethnic minorities. Earlier this month, KPCC’s Patt Morrison hosted a special event at KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum in Pasadena, a combined farmers’ market and town hall discussion on the scarcity of healthy food available to residents of South Los Angeles. An edited broadcast, Navigating LA’s Food Deserts, airs Monday at 1 p.m. on 89.3 KPCC.

FILED UNDER: Economy, Health/Education, Public health, South Los Angeles