Addressing disparities in chronic disease with a teen and young adult focus

少数民族青年和成人健康和风险中心（CHARM）致力于预防种族/少数民族社区的慢性疾病，重点关注儿童晚期、青少年和青年时期。慢性疾病（如糖尿病、心血管疾病、哮喘、肥胖症）是少数民族发病率和死亡率的主要来源。虽然研究相对较少，但青年和青年时期为改善少数民族健康提供了巨大的潜力，因为(1)许多慢性疾病在少数民族人群中发病较早，需要更早地关注预防；(2)行为风险（如吸烟、不健康饮食、久坐不动的生活方式）在这一时期可能具有可塑性，并可能持续到成年；(3)年轻人获得医疗保健的机会有限，面临特别的风险。CHARM汇集了来自加州大学旧金山分校（UCSF）、旧金山总医院（一个安全网络机构）、旧金山州立大学（SFSU -一个少数族裔服务机构）、加州大学旧金山分校（UCSF）和加州大学旧金山分校的研究人员

The Center for Health And Risk in Minority youth and adults (CHARM) is dedicated to chronic disease prevention in racial/ethnic minority communities, with a focus on the late childhood, adolescent, and young adult period. Chronic Illnesses (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, obesity) are major sources of morbidity and mortality in minority populations. Although relatively understudied, the youth and young adult period offers great potential for improving minority health because (1) many chronic conditions develop at younger ages among minority populations necessitating an earlier focus on prevention, (2) behavioral risk (e.g. smoking, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle) may be malleable during this period and change likely to persist into adulthood, (3) young adults are at particular risk for limited access to healthcare. CHARM brings together investigators from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), SF General Hospital (a safety net institution), SF State University (SFSU -a minority-serving institution), as well as other collaborators and community partners that focus on youth. Our aims are: (1) To create a transdisciplinary center for the study of minority health and chronic disease risk that brings together academic and community institutions and is dedicated to improving minority health in the diverse populations of the SF Bay Area, with a specific focus on studies in youth and young adulthood; 2) To generate new knowledge on the interplay between biological, behavioral, and social determinants of health and chronic disease risk in minority youth and young adults and to design novel, innovative, and targeted interventions to reduce chronic disease risk in minority communities in the SF Bay Area; (3) To partner with community organizations in the SF Bay Area to improve health literacy related to health promotion and chronic disease prevention in minority youth and young adults and to have a measurable impact on knowledge of chronic disease risk and tobacco use among youth and young adults in SF; (4) To build capacity for health disparities research in chronic disease, particularly among minority investigators, by utilizing and enhancing UCSF's resources and to measurably increase the number of minority investigators conducting research at UCSF and SFSU.