Eating the right food can help fight cancer. But what foods are right? Are there such things as healthy—and tasty—traditional dishes? Check out a new bilingual cookbook, Nuestra Cocina Saludable: Recipes from Our Community Kitchen, to guide you and your family to eat healthy and help protect against cancer and other chronic diseases. The cookbook is from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) and the Mays Cancer Center (formerly the Cancer Therapy and Research Center) at UT Health San Antonio. Download the free cookbook in English or Spanish. Inside are 46 recipes for healthy, delicious foods straight from real kitchens in South Texas. The cookbook originated when people from across South Texas shared their mouth-watering recipes—like Aurora Rodriguez of ...
Thanks to a partnership between Beverly Gor and Children and Neighbors Defeat Obesity (CAN DO) Houston, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), and the Houston Independent School District (HISD), students at Briscoe Elementary School in Houston now have new opportunities for the active play they need to ensure health and prevent childhood obesity. Before the collaboration, parents identified a lack of physical activity as a primary health concern; now thanks to an after school busing program, students can attend after-school activities at a nearby park for free.
The Need for More Green Spaces for Physical Activity
Awareness: In 2005, the 44% Latino city of Houston was named America’s fattest city by Men’s Fitness magazine, prompting the formation of the Mayor’s ...
One mom, determined to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to folks in Houston, teamed up with a food pantry that had been looking for a creative way to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need. This is the story of how Lisa Helfman formed a unique partnership that led to students being sent home from school with a bag fresh produce each week to take to their homes in several Houston neighborhoods—and ended in kids demanding extra kale smoothies.
Addressing Nutrition in the Community
Awareness/Learn: When Lisa Helfman and her husband, Jonathon, wanted their family to eat healthier, locally grown foods, they joined a food co-op and brought home a box of fresh, farm-grown produce every week. Gradually, they began to see changes in their young boys’ eating ...
Woodburn, Oregon, is a small town south of Portland that’s miles away from a full-service supermarket. The Come N Go corner store, on the outskirts of town, provides hot pre-packaged foods and snacks for on-the-go families and farm workers who stop by on their way to the surrounding fields and farms. Find out how Elizabeth Montano, a mother with two jobs and the owner of Come N Go, made it her mission to give customers healthier options.
The Issue of Nutrition in the Community
Awareness: Elizabeth Montano had always toyed with the idea of opening her own shop Woodburn, Oregon (63% Latino), and when the security of her full-time job became uncertain, it looked like the time was right. In April 2012, Montano opened Come N Go, a convenience store that sells pre-packed snacks ...
In El Paso, a city located at the southwestern tip of Texas near the Mexico border, residents struggle with high rates of obesity and diabetes. A new restaurant initiative is encouraging local businesses to help children in the community make healthier choices when dining out. Jesus Roybal, one local restaurant owner, who was unhappy with what his own kids were stuck ordering on kids’ menus around town, set out to prove that creating a healthy, tasty kids’ menu can be easy to do and good for business.
The Issue of Healthy Food in a Community
Awareness: During a Sunday dinner out with his kids, Jesus Roybal was shocked at what he saw on the kids’ menu. “It was all fried, you know, it was horrible—and I was going to pay for it!” he said. Roybal owns his own ...
Sugary drinks are a large component of added calories in the American diet. Many kids have increased their consumption of sugary drinks—such as soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and flavored milk—between 1991 and 2008, research shows. In Contra Costa, Calif., where 24% of the population is Latino, one of every three kids from low-income families are overweight or obese. A county organization worked with an advertising agency to develop a bilingual social marketing campaign, called Sugar Bites, to urge parents to choose water for their kids instead of sugary drinks.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity
Awareness: First 5 California is a state organization funded by Proposition 10, a statewide ballot initiative passed in 1998, to conduct health and ...
When clinic worker Tatiana Maida had trouble finding many healthy products in the small grocery stores in her Latino neighborhood in Milwaukee, she decided to do something about it. She teamed up with concerned parents, dietitians academics, and store owners to launch a group dedicated to bring baked snacks, hormone-free milk, antibiotic-free eggs, and nutritious grains and seeds into the community’s food environment. When this team of people from all walks of life worked together, they were able to infuse healthy food options into the neighborhood.
The Issue of Healthier Food in the Community
Awareness: About 80% of the patients at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center (SSCHC) in Milwaukee’s South side neighborhood are Latinos. 77% of the adult patients are either ...
Amy Cleveland, fresh out of college and just starting a career in marketing, discovered a coarse lump in her breast while putting on some tanning oil. Only age 22, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was a struggle for me because I was young and there was no one my own age I could relate to or confide in about having cancer. People always say, ‘My mom had that,’ or, ‘My grandma had that.’ But it’s tough for young people,” Cleveland said. Fortunately, Cleveland—now age 28 and free of cancer—found some “Breast Friends Forever,” thanks to a unique support group for young breast cancer survivors in San Antonio (63% Latino) developed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health San Antonio and Susan G. Komen San Antonio. The ...
The Guadalupe neighborhood in Lubbock, Texas has seen some tough times. With many folks struggling to make ends meet, healthy eating has not always been a priority. As a result, obesity has been on the rise in children and adults. It took one determined person to get the community back to their roots of growing delicious, fresh foods. Lala Chavez partnered with a local university, her church, and ultimately the city to plant a community garden that would give the neighborhood with a space for learning, activities, and delicious tomatoes.
The Issue of Nutrition in the Community
Awareness: Lala Chavez’s family has lived in the Guadalupe neighborhood for generations. A predominantly Latino community on Lubbock’s northeast side, the neighborhood has a history of ...
