Newsprint: Troubling health issues found among AANHPI community

Paul Ong, UCLA professor of public policy, social welfare and Asian American studies, and Ninez Ponce, UCLA professor of health services, recently wrote “The State of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health in California Report,” which is the first to use statewide health data on this population and split into subgroups by ethnicity.

Among the professors’ findings is that California’s AANHPI population numbers more than 5 million and accounts for more than 14 percent of the state’s total population. For them, liver cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer are the leading causes of death. They also suffer the most compared to other races in tuberculosis and hepatitis B as diabetes overwhelmingly increases among the population.

The report also states that Adult Filipino males have a higher percentage in smoking than the state average for all adult males. Koreans have the highest uninsured rate of 33 percent compared to the state average of 15 percent. Vietnamese and NHPIs experience the highest rate of mental distress among the AANHPI population, while Vietnamese hold the highest in lacking mental health coverage.

This study is beneficial to providing insight to policymakers and health care providers to create programs that will improve this situation, according to California Assemblyman Mike Eng. “By providing disaggregated data, it provides necessary insight for policymakers and health care providers to design and implement programs that will improve the health of this vital population,” he said.

– by Stepfanie Aguilar

Newsprint: Soy consumed in childhood may decrease risk of breast cancer

Women’s breast cancer risk may be reduced with regular soy intake. A study of Asian American women reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention suggested that eating soy throughout life was associated with lower risk of the disease. However, the most visible protection was provided with childhood soy intake. Women who had consumed soy at least once a week in childhood were around 60 percent less likely to develop the disease compared to women with lower soy intakes. In adulthood, the risk was reduced by 25 percent.

Isoflavones, estrogen-like soy compounds, are suspected to afford some breast cancer protection by helping to destroy abnormal cells and reduce the body’s inflammation. Early exposure to soy’s isoflavones may be crucial in protection against breast cancer. Research on animals demonstrated soy’s contribution to boost earlier maturation of breast tissue and increased tissue immunity to cancer-promoting substances. The link between high soy consumption and lower breast cancer risk remains ambiguous as the study is still at an early stage and insufficient for a public health recommendation.

– by Athalia Nakula

Newsprint: Study Brings to Light the Obama Effect

Two university professors at Florida State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a decrease in racial prejudice that occurred during the Nov. 4 election. They call this the Obama Effect.

A series of studies and experiments done with 300 non-black (white, Asian or Hispanic) students, designed to measure stereotyping and implicit prejudice, has found that there is an unprecedented drop in implicit racial bias across college campuses in Wisconsin and Florida. Researchers have found that 51 percent of the participants demonstrated automatic preferences for white people compared with the earlier 80 percent of white people that demonstrate an automatic preference for whites.

The researchers also asked the students what came to mind when they thought of African-Americans and close to a quarter of them listed Obama. In another experiment, participants were exposed to the word “black” on a computer screen for 55 milliseconds. The exposure was brief, intending to generate subconscious responses. Participants quickly selected words such as president, election or senator rather than neutral words.

Researchers have suggested that the success of Obama’s presidency may have implications for his future role in reducing racial stereotypes and prejudices.

“If his presidency is highly successful, he would activate positive traits, thoughts, and feelings for most people,” the researchers said. “However, the result may be less positive should his presidency prove to be less successful.”

– written by Shirley Mak

Newsprint: Subgroups of Asian Americans Have Poor Health Coverage

Asian Americans are often attributed with positive images of higher education, income and level of employment. Yet, this image is also overshadowed the public’s perception when it comes to health insurance coverage among the Asian American community.

A study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation in January 2007 found that as a whole, Asian Americans have relatively high rates of health coverage, but when separated into different subgroups, the data of health coverage for Asian Americans dropped significantly, with many Asian subgroups having high rates of uninsured individuals.

One reason for this is the decision to group Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians, two of the poorest ethnic communities, with all Asians, blinding the public’s awareness of health coverage problems among Asian minorities.

High rates of uninsured health coverage mean that individuals are less prone to seek health care and miss out preventive screenings like cancer. This can be detrimental. According to data from 2003 from the National Cancer of Health statistics, cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans.

The road to improving health care rates is long but attainable. Deeana Jane, policy director of AAPI health forum believes that by bringing more awareness into the community, more people can be helped.

– written by Tommy Chen

Higher risk perception amongst ethnic minorities

Last quarter Pacific Ties published “No English, No Help,” which reported that many immigrants are not adequately prepared to respond to natural disasters, mainly because they are not sufficiently fluent in English. Consequently, they suffer a worse fate in the aftermath of such disasters.

In a similar vein, a recent study by UCLA researchers found that ethnic minorities and other groups perceive the threat of terrorism to be higher than it actually is, which ultimately affects their lifestyles in a negative way.

Among these vulnerable individuals include the mentally ill, the disabled, African Americans, Latinos, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans and non-U.S. citizens.

One explanation for these groups’ higher risk perception is their perceived lack of control over any particular situation. “These results are consistent with findings of lower risk perceptions among politically conservative White males, who feel greater control over their environment and greater trust in the institutions protecting them,” the study reports.

However, a large number of these minorities have been in adverse circumstances for so long that they feel compelled to stay constantly on their guard. It’s deplorable how these people must be held prisoners of their own fears for this reason, so it is our responsibility to start thinking about what we can do to free them.

– posted by Emily Ho