Foot Health Awareness Month
Treat your feet!
Did you know that the average person should try to take about 8,000 to 10,000 steps every day? Over the course of a lifetime that’s the equivalent of walking four times around the world! Foot pain is a sore subject, and no wonder. Besides 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments, feet have one more thing: a lot of stress. Because of their complex structure and the daily pressure of supporting your weight, feet need special attention, especially when pain hits. Foot pain can lead to discomfort in the legs, hips, and back. Foot disorders can also signal serious problems such as diabetes—which is 1.5 times more likely to strike Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites—as well as arthritis, circulatory disorders, and kidney ailments. Almost 10 percent of Hispanic adults have diabetes, and about one third of these develop nail fungus as a result. So don’t take symptoms such as foot pain, numbness, or tingling lightly. Have them checked out. Be kind to your feet:

Related Articles:
	The Naked Truth About Foot Care (otoño 2003)

Alcohol Awareness Month
It is estimated that 14 million people in the United States have alcohol problems and that approximately half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This is often a difficult topic to discuss, but there is help.

Additional Resources:
	Visit the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Call 1-800-662-4357 (English & Spanish).

Health Calendar January February March April May  June July  August  September October November December

Sexual Assault Awareness Month
It’s not just a women’s issue.
Nearly one third of all adult women in the United States are sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, usually by someone they know, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. According to the organization Men Can Stop Rape, the numbers vary from study to study, yet most studies suggest that 10 to 20 percent of all males will be sexually violated at some point in their lifetimes. That translates into tens of thousands of boys and men assaulted each year alongside hundreds of thousands of girls and women. Sexual assualt means forced intercourse, usually rape, and is different from sexual abuse, which includes any kind of forced sexual act, including touching and kissing. Whether it’s abuse or assault, Hispanics are less likely to report what happened. Language barriers, cultural factors, and a fear of deportation are some of the factors that keep Hispanics from reporting sexual assault. It’s not just current abuse that is underreported; many victims who were abused as children are still suffering in silence well into adulthood. Most therapists agree that whether you were abused as a child or an adult, it’s important to talk about it and get support.