Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Northfield, Minn. — The population of Latino children is growing faster than any other group in the U.S., by age and ethnicity. These kids are also among the most burdened with health problems, like diabetes and obesity.

Currently, nearly 40 percent of all Latino children in the U.S. are overweight or obese.

This is the story of one-10-year-old girl in rural Minnesota struggling in her own battle against obesity. It’s the second of an occasional series of stories looking at the impact these health problems create today.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Faribault, Minn. — Like most people who immigrate to the U.S., Latino immigrants are usually healthier when they first arrive in the U.S. than U.S. born residents. But within a generation, many Latino immigrants lose that health advantage. And they are almost twice as likely to develop diabetes and other chronic diseases, compared to people who are born here.

This is the first of an occasional series of stories looking at the impact these health problems create today and the complications for the future.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Part one of a three-part series) Austin, Minn. – Twenty-five years ago this month, workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin walked off the job in a strike that made national headlines. Fifteen-hundred workers opposed Hormel’s proposed wage cuts.

The strike became of the longest in the 1980s. Hormel eventually won and the company brought on new workers at lower wages.

The labor strike helped transform the demographic landscape of this southeastern Minnesota town. Now, Austin has a deep dependence on immigrant labor. Listen to Part 2 and Part 3 here.