Digestive Diseases News
Winter 2007
Research News
NIH Funds Hispanic/Latino Health Study
Hispanic Community Health Study to Begin in Four Cities
Seven components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), are conducting the largest-ever, long-term
epidemiological study of health and disease in Latin American populations living in the United States.
 As many as 16,000 participants of Hispanic/Latino origin—4,000 at each of four sites—will undergo a series of physical examinations and interviews to help identify the prevalence of and risk factors for a wide variety of diseases, disorders, and conditions, including diabetes and kidney, liver, and heart disease.
The Hispanic Community Health Study, which will focus on Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Central/South Americans, also will assess such risk factors as diet, physical activity, body weight, blood pressure, blood lipids, medication and supplement use, the environment, and health care access.
The NIH will award $61 million over 6.5 years to four field-study sites:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in Bronx, NY Northwestern University in Chicago San Diego State University University of Miami
The study’s data coordinating center will be at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“The Hispanic population is the largest minority population in the United States, and it is expected to triple in growth by 2050,” said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. “As this population continues to increase—and to experience varying rates of disease—it is vitally important to understand the risk factors and health behaviors that contribute to these diseases. The knowledge gained from this study will benefit not only Hispanic populations but will also enhance understanding of health and disease in other ethnic groups.”
For NIDDK fact sheets in Spanish about cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, please visit www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/indexsp.asp.
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NIH Publication No. 07–4552
March 2007
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