One neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, is trying to get its citizens to become more physically active. Zumba, anyone?
When I left for a week of reporting in rural California in late February, I didn't know I would come back with two stories about the devastating health consequences of isolation.
I'm not just talking about the geographic isolation one finds in a remote area. From the hilly evergreen landscape of eastern Shasta County, to the agricultural flatlands of Tulare County in the South Central Valley, I witnessed how isolation can leave people in the dark about keeping healthy, lead to emotional despair, and pose real barriers to quality of life.
For many Mexican immigrants living in New York, working multiple jobs leaves little time for regular exercise. In addition, a heavy reliance on public transportation and a lack of rural areas means that physical activity is virtually nonexistent. Health experts cite this sedentary lifestyle as an emerging gateway to diabetes, especially among immigrants.
This story was originally published in Spanish. Below is the English translation.
For many Mexican immigrants living in New York, working multiple jobs leaves little time for regular exercise. In addition, a heavy reliance on public transportation and a lack of rural areas means that physical activity is virtually nonexistent. Health experts cite this sedentary lifestyle as an emerging gateway to diabetes, especially among immigrants.
Alina Salganicoff, Ph.D., is Vice President and Director of Women's Health Policy and KaiserEDU.org for the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her work focuses on health policy issues of importance to women, with an emphasis on health care financing, coverage, and access to care for underserved women. She also directs the Foundation's KaiserEDU.org project, an online educational resource for students and faculty in health policy. Before directing the Foundation's work in women's health policy, Dr. Salganicoff as an Associate Director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Dr.
