Summary
Latine children and families represent a diverse population that includes an array of ethnic and racial identities. Granular data that is disaggregated by Latine subgroups, including Indigenous Mesoamerican populations as well as Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, South American, and Puerto Rican ancestry (the five largest Latine ancestry groups in CA), can help illuminate hidden inequities and paint a more accurate picture of the well-being of Latine children in CA.
This fact sheet primarily presents data on Latine children as a whole because of the lack of publicly available, granular-level ethnic and racial data.
The publication’s infographic provides an overview of key child health facts to inform the work to be done to make California the best state to raise healthy, thriving children. All data is specific to Latine children in California unless noted explicitly as national data. Authors use the term “Latine” to be inclusive of diverse language, culture and gender identities.
The experiences and outcomes of AfroLatine and Indigenous Latine children and families are often overlooked due to a lack of data that highlights their unique needs. More detailed data could inform the development and targeting of interventions to ameliorate inequities in health care for Latine populations. One effort to collect and disaggregate detailed data for Latine and Indigenous Mesoamerican populations in CA is a bill recently signed into law: SB 1016 (Gonzalez), the Latine and Indigenous Disparities Reduction Act, which requires CA government agencies to collect and disaggregate data for Mesoamerican populations.
This study uses 2022 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data.
