Pediatric cancer can disrupt the behavioral and emotional well-being of youth and their families, representing a potential psychological health risk for the entire family. Among ethnic minority families, cultural factors such as acculturation and language competency may affect the experience of this illness, which can, in turn, affect overall…

Childhood obesity is a public health threat that disproportionally affects Latino youth in the United States. Active and Healthy Families (AHF) is a culturally tailored, family-based program for addressing obesity disparities in a predominantly immigrant Latino population. AHF was the first primary care, culturally tailored intervention for Latino…

Objective: This article describes Phase 1 of a pilot that aims to develop, implement, and test an intervention to educate and simultaneously engage highly stressed Latino parents in child mental health services. A team of Spanish-speaking academic and community co-investigators developed the intervention using a community-based participatory…

This study examines access to, utilization of, and quality of health care for Latino children with autism and other developmental disabilities. We analyze data from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (N = 4,414 children with autism and other developmental disabilities). Compared with White children, Latino children with…

The U.S. Surgeon General's report "Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity--A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001) identified significant disparities in mental health care for Latinos and recommended directions for future research and mental health services. We update…

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity is high, particularly among minority youth. The objective of this article was to evaluate parent and school staff perspectives of childhood health and weight qualitatively to guide the development of a school-based obesity prevention program for minority youth. Methods: Hispanic parents (N?=?9) of…

The cultural competence of 13 parenting education programs for Latino families with young children was examined in this study. Based on our analyses, we make several recommendations for improving the cultural competence and effectiveness of parenting education programs for Latino families with young children. Specifically, we recommend the…

Objectives: Successful childhood obesity intervention models that build sustainable behavioral change are needed, particularly in low-income, ethnic minority communities disparately affected by this problem. Method: Families were referred to Taking Steps Together (TST) by their primary care provider if at least one child had a body mass index…

The innovative educational communication interventions described in this paper include the use of bi-lingual, low literacy level websites and training created by low income Latina women to increase access to health care, health information, and the internet. We focus on one grassroots intervention, aimed at increasing access to health care for…

An extensive literature documents that a lower level of acculturation is associated with better health outcomes among U.S. immigrants, despite the many hardships these families face. It is likely that cultural practices and strong family networks contribute to this phenomenon, which has been termed the "healthy immigrant effect". This article…

This report presents data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey of Child Health, which was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The data concern the proportions of young people (n=17,110) 17 years of age and under who were reported by their parents to have had: (1) a delay in development; (2) a learning disability; or…

This monograph summarizes asthma management conclusions developed by five studies funded under a 5-year federal program titled "Interventions for the Control of Asthma among Black and Hispanic Children." The research goals were to develop model, replicable programs to reduce asthma morbidity; decrease inappropriate use of health care…

Gender beliefs affect adolescents' sexual motivations, perceptions, and actions (Moss, 1994) and can endanger sexual health (Haffner, 1998). We believe that teaching youth about gender norms will increase the efficacy of HIV/STD preventive interventions. We were funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to develop and…

The Congressionally-mandated Head Start Impact Study is being conducted across 84 nationally representative grantee/delegate agencies. Approximately 5,000 newly entering 3- and 4-year-old children applying for Head Start were randomly assigned to either a Head Start group that had access to Head Start program services or to a non-Head Start group…