LATINO HEALTH: Spanish Language Health Media Taking Off

      Spanish-language health publications, such as Su Bebe and Su Familia, "are rolling off the presses at record rates" and ad revenue is keeping pace, "thanks to increased awareness of Latino buying power and stepped-up efforts by managed care to woo Latino patients," the Los Angeles Times reports. New York- based La Salud Hispana is planning a Los Angeles launch in August and Southern California-based Su Familia is set to preview its Northern California edition this spring. In addition, some mainstream health magazines are crossing over to serve the Latino market, for example publishing Spanish translations of Parents magazine and Lamaze Parents magazine. And on the flip side, some publications are "branching out to reach the blooming demographic of U.S.-born Latinos." La Salud Hispana recently went bilingual and Su Familia published a "teen mama" supplement in "a fluid English-Spanish mix that mirrors that way many bicultural teens talk." Surveys also show that Latinos want more health information geared toward them. In response to consumers' demands, 187 Latino publications now offer regular health sections, up from about two dozen three years ago, according to Western Publication Research. Moreover, according to Orbis Broadcast Group, a growing number of health care associations and drugmakers are advertising though Spanish language television, with demand for such programming quadrupling in the last year alone (Romney, 4/1).