By , ,
Published January 10, 2017
Latinos are less likely to keep tabs on their weight or diet, according to a Pew Research Center study released Monday,
About 51 percent of Latinos, compared to 60 percent of U.S. adults as a whole, track their weight, diet, or exercise routine, the findings show.
Latinos are also slightly less likely to track health indicators or symptoms, like blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, or sleep patterns.
About 34 percent of Latinos say they have diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, or cancer, as opposed to 47 percent of non-hispanic whites. And Latino adults are also less likely to report having chronic conditions.
Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, told Fox News Latino that this could be one reason why Latinos "are less likely to track a health indicator or symptom."
"They may have less need to do so," Fox said.
The Pew Center conducted over 3,000 telephone interviews in both English and Spanish with U.S. adults across the country .
The results found that 69 percent of Americans track indicators of their health or the health of a loved one in some manner.
While nearly half keep track of these indicators purely “in their heads,” a third actually write them down the data on paper.
There is also an emergence among the population to use some form of technology to monitor these indicators. The study showed 21 percent of Americans trackers use some form of technology, like a spreadsheet, website, app, or medical device to to track their health.
The news overall is encouraging as the data backs up prior studies that show self-monitoring of health data helps people make positive life choices.
For 46 percent of those surveyed, the simple action of monitoring their health in some manner caused individuals to shift their behavior.
The monitoring of health indicators also led 40 percent of Americans to seek advice from a doctor.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/latinos-less-likely-to-monitor-their-health-survey-shows