By Janelle Gunn, MPH, RD and Gebra Cuyun Carter, PhD, MPH, RD

Most of us acknowledge that we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but why should we do this and is it really that easy? There are many important nutrients in fruits and vegetables that promote health and lower the risk of developing certain chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and fat, while high in many important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Replacing a higher calorie snack with a fruit or vegetable may also help in efforts to maintain or lose weight.

My mother, a Cuban immigrant, had three expectations of me as a child: To graduate from college, get married and become a mother. So far, I have fulfilled two of them. I became a high school teacher and a wife, but at 40-years-old have yet been able to conceive a child. It is an awful predicament to experience: the stigma of infertility plus the expectations - from my Latino family and community– to become a mother. Being the only Latina in your family without children makes you feel ashamed and isolated. Watching your friends experience the joy of motherhood leaves you feeling empty and forgotten. As a Latina isn’t it my God-given right to be a mami?

Once kids start asking for things they see in the store or on TV, it’s not long before most parents hammer home their first personal finance lesson: Money doesn’t grow on trees. From there, how can we teach them other basic money concepts?

This is becoming a particular problem for Hispanic parents, as more advertising is targeting the fast-growing Hispanic community and their soon to be $1.5 trillion in purchasing power.  According to Mayra Serrano, community interventionist at CCARE, City of Hope, “One of our more recent goals has been to teach kids to recognize these ads and to be more media savvy in general.  From there, it’s an easy segue to teaching them about money.”

The first sign of the winter thaw is your cue to spring into action to battle a bulging waistline. Forty percent of American adults don’t participate in any leisure-time physical activity; and for Hispanic adults, the number is even less. If you’ve been hibernating this winter and are noticing the extra pounds adding up, it’s time to spring into action! 

America is getting older as the baby boomer generation eases into its senior years.

This naturally includes the Hispanic population, which by 2019 is projected to be the largest racial/ethnic minority in the 65 and older age group.