The effects of ethnicity and ethnic composition of schools on physical activity and nutrition behaviors of 8th and 11th graders in Texas

With rates of obesity and overweight continuing to increase in the US, the attention of public health researchers has focused on nutrition and physical activity behaviors. However, attempts to explain the disparate rates of obesity and overweight between whites and Hispanics have often proven inadequate. Indeed, the nebulous term ‘ethnicity’ provides little important detail in addressing potential biological, behavioral, and environmental factors that may affect rates of obesity and overweight. In response to this, the present research seeks to test the explanatory powers of ethnicity by situating the nutrition and physical activity behaviors of whites and Hispanic into their broader social contexts. It is hypothesized that a student's gender and grade level, as well as the socioeconomic status and ethnic composition of their school, will have more predictive power for these behaviors than will self-reported ethnicity. ^ Analyses revealed that while ethnicity did not seem to impact nutrition behaviors among the wealthier schools and those with fewer Hispanics, ethnicity was relevant in explaining these behaviors in the poorest tertile of schools and those with the highest number of Hispanics. With respect to physical activity behaviors, the results were mixed. The variables representing regular physical activity, participation in extracurricular physical activities, and performance of strengthening and toning exercises were more likely to be determined by SES and ethnic composition than ethnicity, especially among 8th grade males. However, school sports team and physical education participation continued to vary by ethnicity, even after controlling for SES and ethnic composition of schools. In conclusion then, it is important to understand the intersecting demographic and social variables that define and surround the individual in order to understand nutrition and physical activity behaviors and thus overweight and obesity.^

Ethnic differences in food availability at home among 3--5 year old preschoolers attending Head Start centers in 2008

Background. The childhood obesity epidemic has disproportionately impacted the lives of low-income, minority preschoolers and their families. Research shows that parents play a major role as "gatekeepers" who control what food is brought into the home and as role models for dietary practices. Currently, there is limited research regarding ethnic differences in families of low-income preschoolers. ^ Objective. The objective of this study was to look at ethnic differences in food availability at home among the low-income families of Hispanic and African American preschoolers attending Head Start centers in Harris County, Texas. ^ Design/Subjects. Descriptive data on food availability at home between Hispanic and African American families were used and analyzed for this study. Parents or primary caregivers (n = 718) of children enrolled at Head Start Centers in Houston, Texas completed the Healthy Home Survey. ^ Methods. In the Healthy Home Survey, participants were asked to answer open-ended questions regarding various types of foods currently available at home, such as fresh, canned or jarred, dried and frozen fruits; fresh, canned or jarred, and frozen vegetables; salty snacks, sweet snacks, candy, and soda. Descriptive analyses were conducted to identify significant differences between Hispanics and African Americans via a paired t-test to compare the means of variables between the study groups and a Pearson's chi-square or Fischer's exact (if cell size was <5) test calculated for food availability (food types) between ethnicities to determine differences in distributions. ^ Results. Although both Hispanics and African Americans reported having all categories of food types at home, there were statistically significant differences between ethnic groups. Hispanics were more likely to have fresh fruits and vegetables at home than African Americans. At the same time, more African American families reported having canned or jarred fruits and canned green/leafy vegetables than Hispanics. More Hispanic families reported having diet, regular, and both diet and regular sodas available compared to African American families. However, high percentages of unhealthy foods (including snacks and candy) were reported by both ethnicities. ^ Conclusions. The findings presented in this study indicate the implicit ethnic differences that exist in the food availability among low-income families of Hispanic and African American preschoolers. Future research should investigate the associations between food availability and children's weight status by ethnicity to identify additional differences that may exist.^

Elimination of racial/ethnic Hepatitis B vaccination disparities in the US in the 2007--2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Viral hepatitis is a significant public health problem worldwide and is due to viral infections that are classified as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Hepatitis B is one of the five known hepatic viruses. A safe and effective vaccine for Hepatitis B was first developed in 1981, and became adopted into national immunization programs targeting infants since 1990 and adolescents since 1995. In the U.S., this vaccination schedule has led to an 82% reduction in incidence from 8.5 cases per 100,000 in 1990 to 1.5 cases per 100,000 in 2007. Although there has been a decline in infection among adolescents, there is still a large burden of hepatitis B infection among adults and minorities. There is very little research in regards to vaccination gaps among adults. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) question "{Have you/Has SP (Study Participant)} ever received the 3-dose series of the hepatitis B vaccine?" the existence of racial/ethnic gaps using a cross-sectional study design was explored. In this study, other variables such as age, gender, socioeconomic variables (federal poverty line, educational attainment), and behavioral factors (sexual practices, self-report of men having sex with men, and intravenous drug use) were examined. We found that the current vaccination programs and policies for Hepatitis B had eliminated racial and ethnic disparities in Hepatitis B vaccination, but that a low coverage exists particularly for adults who engage in high risk behaviors. This study found a statistically significant 10% gap in Hepatitis B vaccination between those who have and those who do not have access to health insurance.^

Impact of traffic pollution on telomere length and chronic diseases: Results from the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis and the Mexican-American cohort study

Exposure to air pollutants in urban locales has been associated with increased risk for chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and pulmonary diseases in epidemiological studies. The exact mechanism explaining how air pollution affects chronic disease is still unknown. However, oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways have been posited as likely mechanisms. ^ Data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and the Mexican-American Cohort Study (2003-2009) were used to examine the following aims, respectively: 1) to evaluate the association between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) (PM10 and PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NO x) and telomere length (TL) among approximately 1,000 participants within MESA; and 2) to evaluate the association between traffic-related air pollution with self-reported asthma, diabetes, and hypertension among Mexican-Americans in Houston, Texas. ^ Our results from MESA were inconsistent regarding associations between long-term exposure to air pollution and shorter telomere length based on whether the participants came from New York (NY) or Los Angeles (LA). Although not statistically significant, we observed a negative association between long-term air pollution exposure and mean telomere length for NY participants, which was consistent with our hypothesis. Positive (statistically insignificant) associations were observed for LA participants. It is possible that our findings were more influenced by both outcome and exposure misclassification than by the absence of a relationship between pollution and TL. Future studies are needed that include longitudinal measures of telomere length as well as focus on effects of specific constituents of PM and other pollutant exposures on changes in telomere length over time. ^ This research provides support that Mexican-American adults who live near a major roadway or in close proximity to a dense street network have a higher prevalence of asthma. There was a non-significant trend towards an increased prevalence of adult asthma with increasing residential traffic exposure especially for residents who lived three or more years at their baseline address. Even though the prevalence of asthma is low in the Mexican-origin population, it is the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. and we would expect a growing number of Mexican-Americans who suffer from asthma in the future. Future studies are needed to better characterize risks for asthma associated with air pollution in this population.^

Shaping Attitudes in Public Child Welfare: An Innovative MSW Training Program

Children investigated by child welfare are at significant risk for poor cognitive, emotional, social, behavioral and economic outcomes. In 2000, California formed the Child Welfare Services Group to propose changes in how child welfare services are delivered, the CWS Redesign. California State University, Long Beach’s child welfare training program developed its complement. Fundamentally, Redesign calls for partnering with families and communities to strengthen families, prevent unnecessary placements or re-unite families successfully. These changes are a paradigm shift in attitudes toward birth families and communities. In a qualitative study, interns logged their observations and subsequent impressions of CWS-Client encounters to explore how attitudes are learned. Majority of interns observed positive, collaborative encounters and perceived birth parents as motivated. Their impressions support introducing interns to birth families on the front-end of CWS training.

Risk and protective factors associated with depression among racial and ethnic mothers of adolescents

The central paradigm linking disadvantaged social status and mental health has been the social stress model (Horwitz, 1999), the assumption being that individuals residing in lower social status groups are subjected to greater levels of stress not experienced by individuals from higher status groups. A further assumption is that such individuals have fewer resources to cope with stress, in turn leading to higher levels of psychological disorder, including depression (Pearlin, 1989). Despite these key assumptions, there is a dearth of literature comparing the social patterning of stress exposure (Hatch & Dohrenwend, 2007; Meyer, Schwartz, & Frost, 2008; Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999; Turner & Avison, 2003; Turner & Lloyd, 1999; Turner, Wheaton, & Lloyd, 1995), and the distribution and contribution of protective factors, posited to play a role in the low rates of depression found among African- and Latino-Americans (Alegria et al., 2007; Breslau, Aguilar-Gaxiola, Kendler, Su, Williams, & Kessler, 2006; Breslau, Borges, Hagar, Tancredi, Gilman, 2009; Gavin, Walton, Chae, Alegria, Jackson, & Takeuchi, 2010; Williams, & Neighbors, 2006). Thus, this study sought to describe both the distribution and contribution of risk and protective factors in relation to depression among a sample of African-, European-, and Latina-American mothers of adolescents, including testing a hypothesized mechanism through which social support, an important protective factor specific to women and depression, operates. ^ Despite the finding that the levels of depression were not statistically different across all three groups of women, surprising results were found in describing the distribution of both risk and protective factors, in that results reported among all women who were mothers when analyzed masked differences within each ethnic group when SES was assessed, a point made explicit by Williams (2002) regarding racial and ethnic variations in women's health. In the final analysis, while perceived social support was found to partially mediate the effect of social isolation on depression, among African-Americans, the direct effect of social isolation and depression was lower among this group of women, as was the indirect effect of social isolation and perceived social support when compared to European- and Latina-American mothers. Or, put differently, higher levels of social isolation were not found to be as associated with more depression or lower social support among African-American mothers when compared to their European- and Latina-American counterparts. ^ Women in American society occupy a number of roles, i.e., that of being female, married or single, mother, homemaker or employee. In addition, to these roles, ethnicity and SES also come into play, such that the intersection of all these roles and the social contexts that they occupy are equally important and must be taken into consideration when making predictions drawn from the social stress model. Based on these findings, it appears that the assumptions of the social stress model need to be revisited to include the variety of roles that intersect among individuals from differing social groups. More specifically, among women who are mothers and occupy a myriad of other roles, i.e., that of being female, married or single, African- or Latina-American, mother, homemaker or employee, the intersection of all the roles and the social contexts that women occupy are equally important and must be taken into consideration when looking at both the types and distribution of stressors across women. Predictions based on simple, mutually exclusive categories of social groups may lead to erroneous assumptions and misleading results.^

Ethnic comparisons of adolescent sexual risk -taking and preventive behavior

For adolescents, unprotected sexual intercourse is the primary cause of sexually transmitted disease (STD), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (virus which causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)), and pregnancy. Although many studies on adolescent sexual behavior have addressed racial/ethnic differences, few studies have examined the relation between race/ethnicity while controlling for other sociocultural and psychosocial variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between racial/ethnic categories and selected sociocultural and psychosocial variables, with reported adolescent sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior.^ A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 3132 students in a Texas school district (Section 3.5.2). The instrument contained approximately 100 questions on demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, and psychosocial determinants of sexual behavior. Based on the findings of this study, the following major conclusions are made: (1) There are differences in reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior among Black, Hispanic and White adolescents in this study. The stratified analysis by gender further suggests significant gender differences in reported sexual behavior among the three racial/ethnic groups. (2) Gender, living arrangement, academic grades, and language spoken at home modified the association between reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior and race/ethnicity in this study. This suggests that these sociocultural variables should be considered in future research and practice involving multicultural populations. (3) There are differences in selected psychosocial determinants among the three racial/ethnic groups and between males and females. These differences were consistent with the reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behaviors among race/ethnicity and gender for adolescents in this study. The findings support the consideration of psychosocial determinants in research and interventions addressing adolescent sexual behavior among different racial/ethnic groups.^ Based on the results of this study, two recommendations for practice are made. First, health professionals developing interventions for adolescents from different cultural backgrounds and gender need to be familiar with the specific sociocultural and psychosocial factors which will reduce risky sexual behavior, and promote protective behavior. Second, the need for immediate, realistic, and continuous HIV/STD and pregnancy prevention programs for children and adolescents should be considered. ^

Políticas de territorialización de indígenas en Chubut : Provincialización de las relaciones interétnicas a través del acceso a la tierra

En el presente artículo buscamos un doble objetivo. Por un lado, realizar una propuesta metodológica de lectura y análisis de presupuestos implícitos en los archivos estatales de tierras, construidos por el estado de la Provincia de Chubut. Por otro, nos abocamos al interior del discurso estatal a reconstruir las premisas que articularon las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y las familias indígenas, autoidentificadas como mapuche y mapuche-tehuelche. Tomamos como punto de partida con-ceptos como los de performance, contextualización y entextualización con la finalidad de (Bauman y Briggs, 2000) proponer una estrategia de análisis y reconstrucción de los marcos de referencia de los que partían los discursos estatales acerca del indígena y, al mismo tiempo, nos ocupamos de indagar cómo dichos marcos proveían de representaciones en curso a partir de las cuales se fijaba el sentido de las relaciones entre este grupo y el resto de la sociedad. El abordaje de las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y los indígenas requiere de un análisis desde una perspectiva histórica y multisituada. En consecuencia, cruzamos las sentencias de los archivos estatales con los posiciona-mientos de las narrativas indígenas y nos introducimos, entonces, en las particularidades de procesos conformación de comunidad provincial y de alterización de los indígenas al interior de las premisas que la primordializaban

Producciones identitarias y relaciones interculturales en el periurbano platense

El presente artículo se inscribe en una serie de trabajos focalizados en experiencias migratorias y construcción de identidades y alteridades étnico-nacionales que venimos realizando tanto en el área periurbana de producción hortícola como en el casco urbano de la ciudad de La Plata. (1) En ellos abordamos aspectos de la inserción local de los migrantes -en especial con respecto al caso boliviano- desde distintos ejes analíticos como son la adscripción étnico-nacional, el trabajo, el género, la participación institucional, la construcción de categorías de alteridad con respecto a los migrantes por parte de sujetos, instituciones y medios de comunicación locales, el uso de medios como estrategia de identificación / afirmación / participación desde los propios migrantes. En el caso específico de la migración boliviana a Argentina, tanto al área plenamente urbana como a la rural periurbana -en donde adquiere especial importancia-, constituye un fenómeno estructurado y con características propias, situación reforzada por el subempleo en las áreas de economía campesina en Bolivia y la demanda de algunos sectores de la economía argentina, como actualmente el de la construcción urbana y el de la producción hortiflorícola periurbana. En tal sentido el tema se constituye en referente privilegiado para destacar los aspectos dinámicos de la ciudad y su región. En este contexto expondremos algunas reflexiones conceptuales y resultados de trabajo de campo referidos a la auto y hetero demarcación de la pertenencia étnico-nacional como espacio identificatorio en las dimensiones de trabajo y género.

Políticas de territorialización de indígenas en Chubut : Provincialización de las relaciones interétnicas a través del acceso a la tierra

En el presente artículo buscamos un doble objetivo. Por un lado, realizar una propuesta metodológica de lectura y análisis de presupuestos implícitos en los archivos estatales de tierras, construidos por el estado de la Provincia de Chubut. Por otro, nos abocamos al interior del discurso estatal a reconstruir las premisas que articularon las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y las familias indígenas, autoidentificadas como mapuche y mapuche-tehuelche. Tomamos como punto de partida con-ceptos como los de performance, contextualización y entextualización con la finalidad de (Bauman y Briggs, 2000) proponer una estrategia de análisis y reconstrucción de los marcos de referencia de los que partían los discursos estatales acerca del indígena y, al mismo tiempo, nos ocupamos de indagar cómo dichos marcos proveían de representaciones en curso a partir de las cuales se fijaba el sentido de las relaciones entre este grupo y el resto de la sociedad. El abordaje de las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y los indígenas requiere de un análisis desde una perspectiva histórica y multisituada. En consecuencia, cruzamos las sentencias de los archivos estatales con los posiciona-mientos de las narrativas indígenas y nos introducimos, entonces, en las particularidades de procesos conformación de comunidad provincial y de alterización de los indígenas al interior de las premisas que la primordializaban

Producciones identitarias y relaciones interculturales en el periurbano platense

El presente artículo se inscribe en una serie de trabajos focalizados en experiencias migratorias y construcción de identidades y alteridades étnico-nacionales que venimos realizando tanto en el área periurbana de producción hortícola como en el casco urbano de la ciudad de La Plata. (1) En ellos abordamos aspectos de la inserción local de los migrantes -en especial con respecto al caso boliviano- desde distintos ejes analíticos como son la adscripción étnico-nacional, el trabajo, el género, la participación institucional, la construcción de categorías de alteridad con respecto a los migrantes por parte de sujetos, instituciones y medios de comunicación locales, el uso de medios como estrategia de identificación / afirmación / participación desde los propios migrantes. En el caso específico de la migración boliviana a Argentina, tanto al área plenamente urbana como a la rural periurbana -en donde adquiere especial importancia-, constituye un fenómeno estructurado y con características propias, situación reforzada por el subempleo en las áreas de economía campesina en Bolivia y la demanda de algunos sectores de la economía argentina, como actualmente el de la construcción urbana y el de la producción hortiflorícola periurbana. En tal sentido el tema se constituye en referente privilegiado para destacar los aspectos dinámicos de la ciudad y su región. En este contexto expondremos algunas reflexiones conceptuales y resultados de trabajo de campo referidos a la auto y hetero demarcación de la pertenencia étnico-nacional como espacio identificatorio en las dimensiones de trabajo y género.

Políticas de territorialización de indígenas en Chubut : Provincialización de las relaciones interétnicas a través del acceso a la tierra

En el presente artículo buscamos un doble objetivo. Por un lado, realizar una propuesta metodológica de lectura y análisis de presupuestos implícitos en los archivos estatales de tierras, construidos por el estado de la Provincia de Chubut. Por otro, nos abocamos al interior del discurso estatal a reconstruir las premisas que articularon las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y las familias indígenas, autoidentificadas como mapuche y mapuche-tehuelche. Tomamos como punto de partida con-ceptos como los de performance, contextualización y entextualización con la finalidad de (Bauman y Briggs, 2000) proponer una estrategia de análisis y reconstrucción de los marcos de referencia de los que partían los discursos estatales acerca del indígena y, al mismo tiempo, nos ocupamos de indagar cómo dichos marcos proveían de representaciones en curso a partir de las cuales se fijaba el sentido de las relaciones entre este grupo y el resto de la sociedad. El abordaje de las relaciones interétnicas entre el estado provincial y los indígenas requiere de un análisis desde una perspectiva histórica y multisituada. En consecuencia, cruzamos las sentencias de los archivos estatales con los posiciona-mientos de las narrativas indígenas y nos introducimos, entonces, en las particularidades de procesos conformación de comunidad provincial y de alterización de los indígenas al interior de las premisas que la primordializaban

Producciones identitarias y relaciones interculturales en el periurbano platense

El presente artículo se inscribe en una serie de trabajos focalizados en experiencias migratorias y construcción de identidades y alteridades étnico-nacionales que venimos realizando tanto en el área periurbana de producción hortícola como en el casco urbano de la ciudad de La Plata. (1) En ellos abordamos aspectos de la inserción local de los migrantes -en especial con respecto al caso boliviano- desde distintos ejes analíticos como son la adscripción étnico-nacional, el trabajo, el género, la participación institucional, la construcción de categorías de alteridad con respecto a los migrantes por parte de sujetos, instituciones y medios de comunicación locales, el uso de medios como estrategia de identificación / afirmación / participación desde los propios migrantes. En el caso específico de la migración boliviana a Argentina, tanto al área plenamente urbana como a la rural periurbana -en donde adquiere especial importancia-, constituye un fenómeno estructurado y con características propias, situación reforzada por el subempleo en las áreas de economía campesina en Bolivia y la demanda de algunos sectores de la economía argentina, como actualmente el de la construcción urbana y el de la producción hortiflorícola periurbana. En tal sentido el tema se constituye en referente privilegiado para destacar los aspectos dinámicos de la ciudad y su región. En este contexto expondremos algunas reflexiones conceptuales y resultados de trabajo de campo referidos a la auto y hetero demarcación de la pertenencia étnico-nacional como espacio identificatorio en las dimensiones de trabajo y género.

Comparing the Networks of Ethnic Japanese and Ethnic Chinese in International Trade

In this paper I re-examined the trade enhancing effects of ethnic Chinese networks, found by Rauch and Trindade (2002), on a newer and extended data set. The effects are estimated by the gravity equation with the product of the population ratio (or absolute number) of the ethnic Chinese in both the importing and exporting countries, and are reaffirmed positive and statistically significant. I also compared the effects of two different ethnic Japanese networks, i.e., the networks of long-term Japanese stayers in foreign countries, and the networks of permanent Japanese residents in foreign countries. It is found that the former has stronger trade enhancing effects than the latter. This shows that the effects of ethnic networks on international trade can be generalized beyond the ethnic Chinese, and the ’cohesiveness’ of the ethnic network matters to the trade enhancing effects of the network.