For the first time since the 1850s, a majority of babies born in California, the nation's most populated state, are Latino. This was the finding of a UCLA study released this week. The study by UCLA's Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture concludes that this trend will have long term effects on the state's schools, work force and politics.

Latino births crossed the 50% line in the second half of 2001 according to data drawn from California's Department of Health Services. Latinos now constitute 1/3 of the state's population.

The numbers were higher in southern California. In Los Angeles County, 63.5% of babies are Hispanic. In San Diego County, 45.5% of babies are Hispanic.

The study made several projections:

- in 2006, half of the children entering kindergarten will be Hispanic

- in 2014, half of the children starting high school will be Hispanic

- in 2017, half of the workers entering the work force will be Hispanic

- and in 2019, half of the new voters in California will be Hispanic

Education advocates seized on the report to push for more attention to be paid to Latino students who are not performing as well as their counterparts. Others focused on the health care implications of the data noting that Latinos often have less access to health care resources than members of other groups.

The study can be found on UCLA's we site at http://www.cesla.med.ucla.edu/html/pdf/majority.pdf