What's Killing You

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Cancer

In 2002, Hispanic men were 16% less likely to have prostate cancer as non-Hispanic white men.
In 2002, Hispanic women were 39% less likely to have breast cancer as non-Hispanic white women.
Hispanic men and women have higher incidence and mortality rates for stomach and liver cancer.
In 2002, Hispanic women were 2.2 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Diabetes

Mexican American adults were 2 times more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.
In 2002, Hispanics were 1.5 times as likely to start treatment for end-stage renal disease related to diabetes, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
In 2003 Hispanics were 1.5 times as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to die from diabetes.

Heart Disease

In 2004, Hispanics were 10% less likely to have heart disease, as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
In 2003 Mexican American men were 30% less likely to die from heart disease, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
Mexican American women were 1.2 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to be obese.

HIV/AIDS

Hispanics accounted for 18% of HIV/AIDS cases in 2004.
Hispanic males had over 3 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white males.
Hispanic females had over 5 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white females.
Hispanic men were 2.7 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white men.
Hispanic women were 4.5 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white women.

Immunization

In 2004 Hispanic adults aged 65 and older were 20% less likely to have received the influenza (flu) shot in the past 12 months, as compared to non-Hispanic whites of the same age group.
In 2004, Hispanic adults aged 65 and older were 40% less likely to have ever received the pneumonia shot, as compared to non-Hispanic white adults of the same age group.
Although Hispanic children aged 19 to 35 months had comparable rates of immunization for hepatitis, influenza, MMR, and polio, they were slightly less likely to be fully immunized, when compared to non-Hispanic white children.

Infant Mortality

In 2003, infant mortality rates for Hispanic subpopulations ranged from 4.6 per 1,000 live births to 8.2 per 1,000 live births, compared to the non-Hispanic white infant mortality rate of 5.7 per 1,000 live births.
In 2003, Puerto Ricans had 1.4 times the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic whites.
Puerto Rican infants were 2.1 times as likely to die from causes related to low birthweight, as compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
Mexican American mothers were twice as likely as non-Hispanic white mothers to begin prenatal care in the 3rd trimester, or not receive prenatal care at all.

Stroke

In 2003, Hispanic men were 20% less likely to die from a stroke than non-Hispanic white men.
In 2003 Hispanic women were 30% less likely to die from a stroke than non-Hispanic white women.

Health News

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority population in the country and in 2000 they comprised almost 17% of Florida's population. Like other racial and ethnic minorities, Hispanics in Florida experience health disparities for some critical risk factors and chronic diseases, such as poor nutrition, insufficient physical activity, overweight and obesity, and heart disease. In other areas, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke, Hispanics have better health status than other groups.

In 2003, CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data indicate that African Americans (20.6%) and Hispanics (20.7%) were less likely to consume 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day than whites (24.4%). Hispanics also had lower rates of participation in leisure time physical activity (61.8%, compared with 67.6% for African Americans and 75.4% of whites). Based on these risk factors, Hispanics were more likely to be overweight than whites (41.7% versus 38.5%) and more likely to be obese than whites (21.6% versus 19.1%). From 1996 to 2000, Hispanics in Florida had a higher heart disease death rate than Hispanics nationally (369 per 100,000 versus 348 per 100,000).

However, from 1991 to 1998, Hispanics had a lower stroke death rate (66 per 100,000) than whites (97 per 100,000) or African Americans (102 per 100,000). In addition, Hispanics in Florida had a lower stroke death rate than Hispanics nationally (66 per 100,000 versus 79 per 100,000). BRFSS data from 2003 also indicate that Hispanics in Florida were less likely than whites to report having been told that they have diabetes (6.0%, compared to 8.6% for whites).

The state of Florida passed a law in 2000 that provided funding for a grant program to begin to address disparities in health. Grants are provided to local counties and organizations with the intent to increase community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities.