Publications by authors named "Christian E Vazquez"

Background: Research on childhood nutritional environments, which are predictive of a variety of child and family health and wellbeing outcomes, has primarily focused on parenting behaviors and the home food environment. However, broader social and community factors play an important role in shaping nutritional environments during early childhood. Food security is a key example that is closely linked to nutrition-related health disparities, which can arise from constrained financial resources and material deprivations.

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Background: Despite the potential benefits of using eHealth, sociodemographic disparities exist in eHealth use, which threatens to further widen health equity gaps. The literature has consistently shown age and education to be associated with eHealth use, while the findings for racial and ethnic disparities are mixed. However, previous disparities may have narrowed as health care interactions shifted to web-based modalities for everyone because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Background: Sleep plays a vital role in the well-being of children and adolescents. Researchers have identified adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as an important factor associated with poor sleep among adolescents. The objective of this study was to examine the mediating role of family resilience on the association between ACEs and insufficient sleep among adolescents in the United States.

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Background: Obesity is associated with locality and alcohol use; however, less is known about how the interaction of these two factors may compound the risk of obesity among adolescents.

Objectives: This study examines the relationship between alcohol use and obesity among adolescents from rural and urban areas in the United States.

Methods: Data came from a sample of American adolescents aged 12-17 years from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2015-2019; n = 39,489).

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As COVID-19 public health emergency measures come to an end, socially vulnerable communities have reduced access to resources that address social and health disparities created or exacerbated by the pandemic. Social workers must uphold access to healthcare as a human right in the post-pandemic era by reducing social vulnerability and strengthening community resilience to respond to future health emergencies and natural disasters. This paper draws on the experiences of a team of social work researchers, students, and practitioners engaged in efforts to disseminate information on COVID preventive measures and broker access to local health and social resources.

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Studies of the impact of COVID-19 on mental health symptoms suggest that there may be a unique impact of COVID-19 on minoritized individuals, young children (children five and younger), and their caregivers. Longitudinal studies with representative samples including minoritized populations are needed to accurately reflect the experience of families during COVID-19. The current study used a longitudinal design to assess trajectories of mental health among Latinx female caregivers and their young children over time, beginning prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and over the course of 12 months.

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Background: Older adults tend to have insufficient health literacy, which includes eHealth literacy-the ability to access, assess, and use digital health information. Interventions using methods such as collaborative learning (CL) and individualistic learning (IL) may be effective in addressing older adults' low eHealth literacy, but little is known about the short- and long-term effects of CL versus IL on older adults' eHealth literacy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to use a 3 × 2 × 3 mixed factorial design to examine older adults' learning with CL versus IL for eHealth literacy.

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Underutilization of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) food safety net programs may compromise child nutritional benefits for families with limited incomes. Using a sample of children surveyed before (2003−2006) and after the Great Recession (2007−2009), we examine whether consistent access to WIC and SNAP during times of increased economic stress moderated the association between poverty level (i.e.

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Childhood obesity is a major health issue and a prominent chronic health condition for children in the United States (U.S.), caused by a multitude of factors.

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Objective: To compare total out-of-pocket expenses for physician visits and medications among older adults living with diabetes in Mexico from urban, semi-urban, and rural areas.

Methods: The sample included 2,398 Mexicans aged 65 years and older with self-reported diabetes from the 2018 Mexican Health and Aging Study. Out-of-pocket expenses for physician visits and medications were regressed on locality, controlling for several factors.

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Background: In the United States, healthy behaviors, such as eating fruits/vegetables and exercise, are well below recommended levels, particularly for Hispanics. The COVID pandemic may have exacerbated existing health behavior disparities. The current study examines the impact of COVID social distancing measures on Hispanic parents' eating and exercise behaviors, and how the impact may differ by socioeconomic status (SES) and distress levels.

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Background: Weight status has been linked to adverse childhood experiences. Existing research, however, is limited to unidimensional assessments of cumulative risk and does not account for the complex nature of adversity experienced by children in high-risk settings. We fill existing gaps by assessing how four subtypes of adversity across two primary dimensions of threat and deprivation-based adversity are associated with changes in body mass index (BMI) across child ages 3 through 15 years.

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Background: Hispanic children face disproportionately higher risks for early life obesity and resultant comorbidities such as Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. Sleep habits are modifiable behaviors that impact early childhood obesity; Hispanic infants have been shown to have less nighttime sleep compared to their white counterparts. Pediatricians often coach families on parents' nighttime responsive feeding and longer child sleep duration as protective factors against early life obesity, but must understand the family context and potential barriers.

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Obesity amongst Kindergartners in Texas is above the national average, particularly among Hispanic students. Research on the impact of school and neighborhood-level SES on obesity in childhood using multilevel models is lacking. Survey data were collected from Hispanic caregivers of pre-kindergarten students in Fall 2019 (n = 237).

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Spirituality and religion are well-documented components of prevention, treatment and recovery of substance use disorders. Faith communities are in a distinct position to support recovery and resilience regarding substance use disorders-not only in times of crisis, but every day. We conducted an exploratory study of congregational (i.

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Purpose Of Review: This is a review of the patterns, conceptualization, and suggested mechanisms underlying the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) to obesity in childhood and the implications of these data for interventions going forward.

Recent Findings: Adiposity and SES are negatively associated in high-income countries and positively associated in medium to low-income countries. Several mechanisms, such as early introduction of solid food and parental behaviors, which may explain the association of SES and adiposity, have been identified.

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Research on the association between breastfeeding and childhood obesity and research on racial/ethnic differences in breastfeeding both show inconsistencies. The current study examines: 1) whether immigrant Hispanic women have higher rates of breastfeeding compared to non-Hispanic (three separate groups: African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and White) and U.S.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gather information about work culture characteristics from four successful pediatric heart programs to better understand how they continue to maintain high standards of quality and safety.

Design/methodology/approach: For this qualitative study, data were collected through semi-structured in-depth individual interviews with four physician leaders. Those interviews were transcribed and coded for themes, first individually and then across all four.

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