basic facts
- Hispanic Americans are the
fastest growing demographic group in the United States.
- In 2000, Hispanics were the
largest minority group. If current demographic trends continue,
the Hispanic population will almost triple by 2050; one out of
every four Americans will be Hispanic
- Spanish is the second most
common language in the United States. In 2000, about 27.8 million
people (or 10.5% of the population) over the age of five
spoke Spanish at home.
- Hispanics are concentrated
largely in the South and West, and in a few large
metropolitan regions (especially New York and Chicago). New Mexico had the
highest percentage of Hispanics (42%) followed by California (32%)
and Texas (32%). Hispanics comprise over half the population
in 50 counties in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado
and Florida.
- Of the
ten largest cities in the U.S. in 2000, only two (Detroit &
Philadelphia) were less than 1/4 Hispanic.
health facts
- Comparing the health profile of Hispanic people
to that of the general U.S. population reveals numerous
disparities. Disproportionate numbers of adult
Hispanics suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and
obesity.
- Meeting the health care needs of Hispanics
requires an understanding of their social,
cultural, economic, and physical environments.
Sources:
Population Resource Center
http://www.nih.gov/ninr/news-info/hispanic_health.pdf
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/cbm/hispanic.html
Hispanic
Health Profile
For more information, including a general overview of population statistics
as well as terminology (Hispanic vs. Latino vs. other identifiers), please read
this excellent
article from the
Office of Minority Health regarding the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) Hispanic Agenda for Action (see
about HAA or HAA
main site).
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