DOWNTOWN : Diabetes Health Fair to Target Latinos

Hoping to educate a community in which one in seven people is diabetic, the American Diabetes Assn. will host a health fair targeted at Latinos today at Olvera Street Plaza, 845 N. Alameda St.

The sixth annual Unidos Contra La Diabetes/United Against Diabetes fair, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., will offer free screenings for diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, vision problems and HIV. There will also be live music, displays of health products and literature on nutrition, exercise and other health subjects.

The goal of the fair, which drew close to 10,000 people last year, is to teach people, particularly Latinos, to “live a healthier lifestyle,” said Marta Miyar, Latino programs coordinator for the American Diabetes Assn.

In Los Angeles County, more than 450,000 Latinos have diabetes, an incurable and deadly disease, but half of the cases are not diagnosed, Miyar said. “You have a huge population walking around with a chronic disease,” she said.

The longer the disease goes undiagnosed, the more serious the resulting problems and complications will be, she said. Diabetes, which affects the body’s ability to process food sugar into energy, can lead to blindness, heart attacks and strokes.

With 14% of its population having diabetes, Latinos have the second-highest prevalence of the disease among ethnic groups in the United States. Native Americans rank first, with estimates ranging from 14% to 50% of the population afflicted, Miyar said. Asian Americans are third, with a prevalence rate of 10% to 14%, followed by African Americans with 10%. One in 20 Americans has diabetes.

Information: (213) 381-3639.