Human Services News

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Hispanic youth report better dental health habits than their non-Hispanic peers, according to a study of northern Manhattan adolescents by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

The study, which is published in the November issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, provides insight into the oral health of the diverse Hispanic community in America.

The study, a snapshot of more than 3,200 children ages 12 to 16, who live in the northern Manhattan communities of Central Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood, found that 94 percent of the youth responding to the study were Hispanic or black.

In most national studies of children's oral health, the data on Hispanics largely reflects Mexican-American youth.

"Studies focusing on other Hispanic subgroups will help us understand the difference within the Hispanic population and underscore the need to examine health outcomes for each Hispanic subgroup whenever data is available," Dr. Borrell noted.

"This study may help us define the oral health status of Hispanic subgroups other than Mexican Americans.

The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 950 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees.

Its students and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences.

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