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Inside Hispanic America

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by Claudia “Havi” Goffan

Winner of the Publisher’s Multicultural Award Category: Best Multicultural Awareness Article

What is life like in America for Hispanic Americans?  What are their thoughts and concerns about family, employment, education, religion, opportunities, and healthcare?  We asked Claudia Goffan, founder of Target Latino, an Atlanta based marketing and consulting firm specializing in the Hispanic market, to provide “The College World Reporter” readers with her own views from inside Hispanic America. Here is our interview:

Claudia "Havi" Goffan - Hispanic Marketing Expert and CEO of Target Latino

Claudia “Havi” Goffan – Hispanic Marketing Expert and CEO of Target Latino

Q.Could you give us an inside look at Hispanic or Latino life?

A. To fully understand the Hispanic market, you need to analyze it by country of origin, level of acculturation, age, sex, marital status and educational level. Although some generalizations can be made, they have to be understood as such and not as an answer to comprehending the culture.

Let’s talk about some of the generalizations about the Hispanic culture. The very first one that comes to mind is about family being the first priority, the children are celebrated and sheltered and the wife usually fulfills a domestic role. Hispanics have a long Roman Catholic tradition and this usually implies quite a fatalistic outlook where destiny is in the hands of God. Latin American educational system is based on emphasis on the theoretical, memorization and a rigid and very broad curriculum. It follows the French schooling system and it translates into people who are generalists and look at the big picture as opposed to specialists, like in the U.S. Hispanics are highly nationalistic, very proud of long history and traditions.

Hispanics have difficulty separating work and personal relationships and are sensitive to differences of opinion. Hispanics fear loss of face, especially publicly and shun confrontation, where truth is tempered by the need for diplomacy. Title and position are more important than money in the eyes of Hispanic society. Etiquette and manners are seen as a measure of breeding and it follows an “old world” formality. Dress and grooming are status symbols whereas in the U.S. appearance is secondary to performance. The aesthetic side of life is important even at work.

Q. Tell us about the purchasing power of the U.S. Hispanics?

A. According to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth in 2004 the nation’s largest minority group controlled $686 billion in spending. The community’s purchasing power comprises the world’s ninth biggest economy and it’s larger than the GNP of Brazil, Spain or Mexico. Hispanic purchasing power is projected to reach as much as $1 trillion by next year (2010) being the main drivers of the surge in Hispanic consumer influence the increasing education levels, labor force composition, household characteristics and accumulation of wealth. The fastest-growing occupational categories for Hispanics are higher paying managerial and professional jobs.

Q. What about Hispanics’ Healthcare Access?

A. I will quote a new analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center that indicates that six-in-ten Hispanic adults living in the United States who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents lack health insurance. According to this same study, the share of uninsured among this group (60%) is much higher than the share of uninsured among Latino adults who are legal permanent residents or citizens (28%), or among the adult population of the United States (17%). Hispanic adults who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents tend to be younger and healthier than the adult U.S. population and are less likely than other groups to have a regular health care provider. Just 57% say there is a place they usually go when they are sick or need advice about their health, compared with 76% of Latino adults who are citizens or legal permanent residents and 83% of the adult U.S. population.

Overall, four-in-ten (41%) non-citizen, non-legal permanent resident Hispanics state that their usual provider is a community clinic or health center. These centers are designed primarily as “safety nets” for vulnerable populations and are funded by a variety of sources, including the federal government, state governments and private foundations, as well as reimbursements from patients, based upon a sliding scale (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008).

Six out of 10 Hispanics are U.S.-born - Inside Hispanic America

Six out of 10 Hispanics are U.S.-born – Inside Hispanic America

The study also reports that some 37% of Latino adults who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents have no usual health care provider. More than one-fourth (28%) of the people in this group indicate that financial limitations prevent them from having a usual provider – 17% report that their lack of insurance is the primary reason, while 12% cite high medical costs in general. However, a majority (56%) say they do not have a usual provider because they simply do not need one. An additional 5% state that difficulty in navigating the U.S. health care system prevents them from having a usual provider. According to Pew Hispanic Center estimates, 11.9 million undocumented immigrants were living in the U.S. in 2008. Three-quarters (76%) of these undocumented immigrants were Latinos.

Regarding health status, the study reports that the Latino population in the U.S. is relatively young, and Latino adults who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents are younger still. Some 43% of adult Latinos who are not citizens or legal permanent residents are younger than age 30, compared with 27% of Hispanic adults who are citizens or legal permanent residents and 22% of the adult U.S. population.  The youthfulness of this population contributes to its relative healthiness.

About the Hispanic experiences in the Health Care System, the Pew reports that three-fourths (76%) of Latino adults who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents report that the quality of medical care they received in the past year was excellent or good. This is similar to the proportion of adult Latino citizens and legal permanent residents (78%) who express satisfaction with their recent health care. However, when asked a separate question – whether they had received any poor medical treatment in the past five years – adult Latinos who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents are less likely (16%) to report any problems than are Latinos who are citizens or legal permanent residents (24%).

Among those Latinos who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents who report receiving poor medical treatment in the past five years, a plurality (46%) state that they believed their accent or the way they spoke English contributed to that poor care. A similar share (43%) believed that their inability to pay for care contributed to their poor treatment. More than one-third (37%) felt that their race or ethnicity played a part in their poor care, and one-fourth (25%) attributed the unsatisfactory treatment to something in their medical history.

Q. What is the difference in viewpoint between young Hispanics or Latinos born and raised in the United States, and their older parents or grandparents who migrated to the U.S. from other countries?

A. The one difference that applies to all Latinos existent between non and semi-acculturated Hispanics and fully-acculturated or U.S. born Hispanics (young or old) is that whereas the non and semi-acculturated Latinos are trying to learn how to navigate the American culture, the U.S. born Hispanics or fully-acculturated know how to navigate the American culture and “learn” to navigate the Hispanic one from their family.

Q. Who are people on the rise in the Hispanic or Latino community that may become corporate leaders, or the next Sonia Sotomayor?

A. There are many Hispanics on the rise in every walk of life in the United States. Some people may not even notice of their Hispanic background because it usually comes to light when there are political issues at stake. For example, a currently retired doctor that was the Director of Cardiology of the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta was originally from Argentina. The creative that many years ago came up with the successful campaign for a drug that put the country to sleep is a Nuyorican (Puerto Rican born in New York).

Regarding known Latinos on the rise, you may want to keep an eye on Christine Arguello, Judge, U.S. District Court, Colorado; Emiliano Calemzuk, President, Fox Television Studios; Ignacia Moreno, Counsel, Corporate Environmental Programs, General Electric Company; Esther Salas, U.S. Magistrate Judge, District of New Jersey; Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor; Rosa Gumatatotao Rios, United States Treasurer; Elena Rios, President & CEO, National Hispanic Medical Foundation; Enrique Conterno; President, Eli Lilly, USA and Edward Chavez, Justice, the State of New Mexico Supreme Court, among many others.

Q. What should everyone know about Hispanics or Latinos?

A. The first thing that comes to mind is the very little known fact that 6 out of 10 Latinos are U.S. born.  The second one is that the younger the generation, the higher the percentage of Hispanics in it. It is imperative to understand the new U.S. demographics when developing business strategies, city planning, new products, etc.

About Claudia Goffan: Recognized as an expert in Latino Marketing by CNN en Español, Claudia has been featured in Adweek, Hispanic Business, Univision, Telemundo and other national and international media.

A native from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Claudia has been very influential in the Hispanic markets in the U.S. and Latin America – both from a business and a community standpoint – always with outstanding results. Claudia has contributed to companies such as, The Occasions Group, The Taylor Corporation, El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad (A division of SunTrust Bank), XEROX, AT&T, BellSouth, Citibank, Papa John’s, Liberty Mutual, British Telecom, Gold’s Gym, Sherwin Williams, and Verizon, among others.

A motivator, strategic and hands-on, innovative, creative and resourceful. It has been said that her humor and presence immediately captivate audiences. She has an MBA from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and more than 20 years specializing in Marketing and Strategic Planning both internationally and domestically. She is bilingual and bicultural in English and Spanish and fluent in Portuguese, French, and Italian.

About Target Latino: Target Latino was founded in 2003, with a vision unparalleled at the time – to show American companies the importance of the U.S. Hispanic market – not by preaching but by acting. Target Latino is a marketing consulting firm specializing in the Hispanic market and inbound strategies.  Target Latino has a long standing experience of driving results in tough economic times.  Target Latino is minority owned, and a percentage of its proceeds go to different charity causes.

So true. Great Quotes

Great quote

SABEResPODER & Best Buy Promote Informed Shopping Decisions

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The initiative aims at educating the Latino community on how best to take advantage of the technology at their reach.

Best Buy unites with SABEResPODER to educate the Hispanic community about how to get the most out of the latest technology and understand their rights as consumers.

Various studies show that Latinos purchase more televisions, digital cameras, cell phones, and computers than the average population. However, Raul P. Lomeli-Azoubel, Executive Chairman for SABEResPODER, said that, “the statistics also reveal a different reality: the technological advances, that serve to make our lives easier, are not being used to their full potential.”

For this reason, SABEResPODER, with Best Buy’s support, has published an educational guide about “New Technologies” with the main objective of sharing vital information, so that consumers can learn more about their options.

The educational campaign also includes an informative video on the subject and workshops that will be offered to community groups. The goal of the initiative is to promote smarter, more informed, consumer electronic shopping, and help the community purchase products that actually meet their specific needs.

“Our knowledgeable, non-commission sales specialists are trained specifically to help our customers find the right product solution to best fit their individual needs,” says Marco Orozco from Best Buy. “We believe our sales specialists’ primary role is to listen to the needs of our customers and then inform and educate them on their product options.”

The initiative was presented during a community event at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, where Consul General Juan Marcos Gutierrez congratulated SABEResPODER for this campaign focused on educating the community and empowering them to make informed purchasing decisions. The Consul General also made the following recommendation to the audience: “remember to first educate yourself on your options in order to avoid mistakes that are caused by impulse shopping.”

The recurring theme at the event was for consumers to make informed purchases to ensure that technology delivers on its promises; and to learn how technology can improve the quality of life in a digital world.
About SABEResPODER, Inc.

SABEResPODER provides corporations, agencies and non-profit entities with powerful and exclusive educational media solutions for gaining incremental customers while assisting Spanish-dominant consumers to become more informed, confident and active consumers and participants in American society. SABEResPODER is a targeted Spanish-language multimedia network reaching Spanish dominant consumers at a key transition point when they are actively pursuing resources to further establish their lives in the United States. For more information about SABEResPODER, visit www.saberespoder.com.

About Best Buy Co., Inc.

With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. Approximately 155,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way we do business at Best Buy. In fiscal 2009, Best Buy donated a combined $33.4 million to improve the vitality of the communities where their employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com

SOURCE SABEResPODER

Hispanic Children and Obesity Risk

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Hispanic Children In U.S. At Greater Risk For Obesity Than Other Ethnic/Racial Groups

The prevalence of overweight in the US population is among the highest in Mexican-American children and adolescents. In a study of 1,030 Hispanic children between the ages of 4 and 19, published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine found less than optimal diets in both overweight and non-overweight participants.

Hispanic Children and Obesity Risk

Hispanic Children In U.S. At Greater Risk For Obesity Than Other Ethnic/Racial Groups

Hispanic Children In U.S. At Greater Risk For Obesity Than Other Ethnic/Racial Groups

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), in 2005-2006 the prevalence of overweight among children (2-19 years) from all ethnic/racial groups was 15.5%. For Mexican-American males and females (2-19 years) the prevalence was 23.2% and 18.5%, respectively. Although the US environment encourages a sedentary lifestyle and excess food intake, the Hispanic population is burdened with additional risk factors for childhood obesity including parental obesity, low socioeconomic status (SES), recent immigration, acculturation to US diet and lifestyle, and limited health insurance coverage.

The VIVA LA FAMILIA Study was designed to identify genetic and environmental factors contributing to childhood obesity in the Hispanic population. It provided the novel opportunity to assess the diet of a large cohort of Hispanic children from low-SES families at high risk for obesity (1,030 children from 319 families in Houston, Texas). On average, 91% of parents were overweight or obese and parental income and education levels were low. Food insecurity was reported by 49% of households.

Writing in the article, Nancy F. Butte, PhD, Professor, USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, states, “The diets of these low-SES Hispanic children were adequate in most essential nutrients, but suboptimal for the promotion of long-term health. Diet quality did not satisfy US dietary guidelines for fat, cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, fiber, added sugar, and sodium. Although energy intake was higher in overweight children, food sources, diet quality, and macro- and micronutrient composition were similar between non-overweight and overweight siblings…Knowledge of the dietary intake of children from low-SES Hispanic families at high risk for obesity will provide a basis on which to build nutritional interventions and policy that are appropriately tailored to population sub-groups.”

In a commentary published in the same issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD, Professor of Nutritional Sciences & Public Health, Director, NIH EXPORT Center for Eliminating, Health Disparities among Latinos (CEHDL), University of Connecticut, Storrs, asks whether the process of acculturation into “mainstream” US society is having negative effects on Hispanics. Citing numerous studies, he explores many of the factors that both support and contradict the assimilation argument, and concludes that while acculturation is likely a negative influence, further study is warranted. He writes, “However, we still need to elucidate the mechanisms and the extent to which acculturation to the USA ‘mainstream’ culture per se explain deterioration in dietary quality, and increased risks for obesity and associated chronic diseases among Latinos. Filling in this gap in knowledge is essential for developing culturally appropriate and behavioral change based interventions targeting Latinos with different levels of acculturation.”

The article is “Nutrient adequacy and diet quality in non-overweight and overweight Hispanic children of low socioeconomic status – the VIVA LA FAMILIA Study” by Theresa A. Wilson, MS, RD, Anne L. Adolph, BS, and Nancy F. Butte, PhD. The commentary is “Dietary quality among Latinos: Is acculturation making us sick?” by Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD. Both appear in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 109, Issue 6 (June 2009) published by Elsevier.

Source: APA – Elsevier (2009, June 4). Hispanic Children In U.S. At Greater Risk For Obesity Than Other Ethnic/Racial Groups. ScienceDaily. Retrieved

First Bilingual Educational Toy Brand, Ingenio(TM), Hits the U.S. Market

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Alpharetta, Ga.-based Smart Play, LLC has launched Ingenio(TM), the first entirely bilingual educational toy brand and games in the United States. The product line features 10 portable, affordable toys and games that teach a comprehensive range of early learning skills in English and Spanish – fine motor, reading, writing, math, vocabulary, geography and problem solving.

First Bilingual Educational Toy Brand, Ingenio(TM), Hits the U.S. Market

First Bilingual Educational Toy Brand, Ingenio(TM), Hits the U.S. Market

Ingenio’s bilingual product line ranges from electronic learning toys and puzzles to educational games. All products emphasize English and Spanish equally to enable the child to learn a second language easily. The light-weight, travel-friendly products offer children dynamic, “unplugged” playtime, free from the chain-and-drain of a computer or television.

Unlocking a world of opportunities, Ingenio helps preschool and grade school children (ages 3-8 years) learn both languages in the context of fun. Smart Play’s products are bilingual by design(TM) to facilitate learning at an early age, which research indicates is the prime time for language acquisition.

The proven benefits of bilingualism include greater cognitive flexibility, improved powers of concept formation and enhanced creativity. Spanish is the second-most prominent language in the country, and nearly 25 percent of all U.S. children between the ages of 3 and 6 are of Hispanic origin (a number that is quickly on the rise). This makes Ingenio an ingenious tool to form future leaders.

“Finally, a foreign-language educational toy company!” said Liza Sanchez, founder of Escuela Bilingüe Internacional, in response to Ingenio. “As a parent, I am thrilled to finally be able to provide toys that represent our home language. As a teacher, I have been looking for years for products that can help my young students advance their Spanish education both in and outside of the classroom. The cognitive and social benefits of becoming bilingual have made many parents realize the importance of learning a second language.”

In addition to recognition from educational leaders, Ingenio has already garnered accolades from the toy industry. Ingenio recently received the 2009 Dr. Toy’s Best Vacation Product and Creative Child Magazine 2009 Top Toy of the Year.

Not only is Ingenio innovative and educational but also budget-friendly. Eight of the 10 products are less than $ 15 and all products are available at Amazon.com and will soon be available at Toys “R” Us.com.

About Smart Play

Smart Play provides safe, affordable, innovative and educational products to enrich your child’s mind. Play is the perfect way to reinforce and extend the skills children learn at home and at school. Many of our products are designed to grow with your child by offering age-appropriate activities with progressive levels of difficulty.

For more information about Ingenio products, please visit our bilingual site: www.smartplay.us.

Source: Smart Play, LLC

Hispanic Immigrants’ Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds

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A great example of a study (or its interpretation) that misleads readers. This is a problem that stems from poverty and parents with a low educational level. This is definitely not related to the parent’s immigration status. Children from Hispanic immigrants whose parents have a very high level of education do even better than their American counterpart. Feel free to comment.

Havi Goffan

Here is the article:

The children of Hispanic immigrants tend to be born healthy and start life on an intellectual par with other American children, but by the age of 2 they begin to lag in linguistic and cognitive skills, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, shows.

Hispanic Immigrants’ Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds

Hispanic Immigrants’ Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds

The study highlights a paradox that has bedeviled educators and Hispanic families for some time. By and large, mothers from Latin American countries take care of their health during their pregnancies and give birth to robust children, but those children fall behind their peers in mental development by the time they reach grade school, and the gap tends to widen as they get older.

The new Berkeley study suggests the shortfall may start even before the children enter preschool, supporting calls in Washington to spend more on programs that coach parents to stimulate their children with books, drills and games earlier in their lives.

“Our results show a very significant gap even at age 3,” said Bruce Fuller, one of the study’s authors and a professor of education at Berkeley. “If we don’t attack this disparity early on, these kids are headed quickly for a pretty dismal future in elementary school.”

Professor Fuller said blacks and poor whites also lagged behind the curve, suggesting that poverty remained a factor in predicting how well a young mind develops. But the drop-off in the cognitive scores of Hispanic toddlers, especially those from Mexican backgrounds, was steeper than for other groups and could not be explained by economic status alone, he said.

One possible explanation is that a high percentage of Mexican and Latin American immigrant mothers have less formal schooling than the average American mother, white or black, the study’s authors said. These mothers also tend to have more children than middle-class American families, which means the toddlers get less one-on-one attention from their parents.

“The reading activities, educational games and performing the ABCs for Grandma — so often witnessed in middle-class homes — are less consistently seen in poor Latino households,” Professor Fuller said.

The study is based on data collected on 8,114 infants born in 2001 and tracked through the first two years of life by the National Center for Education Statistics. The findings will be published this week in Maternal and Child Health Journal, and a companion report will appear this fall in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The analysis showed that at 9 to 15 months, Hispanic and white children performed equally on tests of basic cognitive skills, like understanding their mother’s speech and using words and gestures. But from 24 to 36 months, the Hispanic children fell about six months behind their white peers on measures like word comprehension, more complex speech and working with their mothers on simple tasks.

The study comes as the Obama administration has been pushing for more money to help prepare infants and toddlers for school. In September, the House passed an initiative that would channel $8 billion over eight years to states with plans to improve programs serving young children.

In addition, the economic stimulus package included $3 billion for Head Start preschools and for the Early Head Start program, which helps young parents stimulate their children’s mental development.

Eugene Garcia, an education professor at Arizona State University, said the Berkeley-led study confirmed findings by others that the children of Hispanic immigrants, for reasons that remain unclear, tend to fall behind white students by as much as a grade level by the third grade.

“It seems like what might be the most helpful with Latino kids is early intervention,” Dr. Garcia said.

Carmen Rodriguez, the director of the Columbia University Head Start in New York City, said there was a waiting list of parents, most of them Hispanic, who want to take Early Head Start classes with their children.

Dr. Rodriguez said the study’s findings might reflect a surge in interest in early childhood education on the part of middle-class Americans, rather than any deficiency in the immigrant homes.

“Any low-income toddler is disadvantaged if they don’t get this kind of stimulation,” she said.

Source: The New York Times – By James McKinley Jr