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Rosalie Aguilar-Santos

Rosalie Aguilar Santos, MS, is Salud America!'s national project coordinator. She is passionate about nutrition, physical activity, and opportunities to engage communities in advocacy actions to promote Latino childhood health.

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Articles by Rosalie Aguilar-Santos

AHA Resource ‘Empowered to Serve’ On-line Community



Communities of color bear a disproportionate burden of risks for heart disease and stroke in the U.S. For this reason, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association created EmPowered To Serve, an online mega-community of diverse individuals and organizations united in building sustainable cultures of health in communities across the country. “When people join EmPowered To Serve, they have the opportunity to assess their personal health, assess the health of their community or environment and work on an action plan to improve problem areas. The aim of the platform is for communities to achieve at least a 10 percent improvement in health, which is measured through a post action plan assessment,” says Clyde Yancy, M.D., Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine ...

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Parents’ Weight Impacts Young Children Most Heavily



In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, scientists compared data on contemporary children with those of the 1980's. They discovered that the rise in obesity among very young children is predominantly in families where the parents are obese. Toddlers as a whole have not changed. By contrast, obesity among adolescents has not been restricted to those with obese parents, but has occurred across the entire age group. The data suggests that parenting is the primary determinant of obesity in early years, whereas peer influence plays a larger role later on. Full Article ...

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Latino Youth Poets Help Communities to Step Up vs. Big Soda



Latino and African American youth as well as individuals belonging to a local coalition of health leaders joined forces to launch Open Truth, a counter-advertising campaign that exposes big soda companies’ marketing tactics aimed at youth and communities of color. The result was a series of poems and videos created by youth, as well as dozens of ads viewed by millions, a website, and a viral social media campaign aimed at getting those targeted by soda companies to speak out against Big Soda. EMERGENCE Awareness:  By 2008, Christina Goette of the San Francisco Public Health Department and Shape Up San Francisco (Shape Up SF), a coalition of community groups and leaders interested in preventing chronic disease and promoting better health for the region, were already very ...

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Take Action, Create Change Community Organizing Toolkit via LCAT



Latinos hold the power to create social and environmental change in their communities! The process starts with identifying a need, mobilizing the community and taking action to improve the health and overall well being of both children and adults living in underserved communities. With high obesity rates, and issues related to alcohol and tobacco use, community leaders have the opportunity to take action! Learn how to take action by accessing the National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention's (LCAT) toolkit below. Access the Take Action, Create Change Toolkit ...

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San Antonio Councilman Hosts Community Walk



How can city leaders promote healthy living among constituents? Why not host a 2-mile community walk, the way San Antonio Councilman Mike Gallagher has organized for June 2015? Events such as these are a great for engaging constituents in important discussions about local policies and they demonstrate just how important it is to make active living the norm for Latino communities. The event is set to take place on: Date: Saturday, June 27th, 2015 Place: Comanche Lookout Park, 15551 Nacogdoches Rd. For more information and to RSVP call: ...

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Fly Movement’s 6-Week Fitness Challenge Gets Houston Kids Moving!



The team over at Fly Movement, a Houston based non-profit organization that works to get kids excited about being fit has just released the latest results from their 6-week fitness challenge! After giving out 50 fitness trackers to 3rd grade students at Brookline Elementary, Eric Melchor, founder of Fly Movement, noted that kids were more active. While wearing fitness trackers the students walked an average of over 2.65 miles a day. According to Melchor, the idea behind Fly Movement is simple. Just give kids a fitness tracker and a goal challenge. "I usually tell them about one of my goals," said Melchor. "If you can teach kids at a young age the importance of reaching goals they are going to do better in life." For kids participating in Fly Movement, the goal is to beat ...

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El Paso Students ‘Get Hip’ with Health and Wellness



In the predominantly Latino city of El Paso, Texas, kids are priority No. 1 thanks to a community-school partnership that prioritizes physical activity and health for children. The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) created and its Get HIP Now program to provide elementary- and middle-school students with integrated school health programming, alongside before- and after-school physical activity. EMERGENCE Awareness: As early as 2005, leaders at the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), an 83% Latino school district in El Paso, Texas, were becoming aware of student obesity issues. It seemed obvious that students could benefit from improvements to physical activity programing, according to John Adams, a P.E. instructor at the time who would eventually become the ...

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New Trails Encourage El Paso Residents to Get Up, Get Walking



How do you get an entire city of people to get up and moving? Build them new trails and places to walk! That’s what happened when Angela Mora and other El Paso city officials teamed with community groups to gather a small budget and launch Move! El Paso Fitness Trails. The initiative created 13 new walking trails for the community, expanding the opportunities for people to walk, get moving, and reduce obesity! The Struggle to Stay Active in El Paso Angela Mora, deputy director of the El Paso Public Health Department, was well aware of the city’s growing obesity problem. A lack of physical activity opportunities was a big reason for these obesity rates. A few years ago, about 29% of adults in El Paso County were physically inactive, compared to state and national averages ...

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SRTS Resource: Using Safe Routes to School to Combat the Threat of Violence



In underserved Latino communities, walking and bicycling safely can often be a challenge. Research shows that often children living in predominantly Latino neighborhoods face high crime rates and a lack of safe spaces, which keeps from getting the physical activity they need. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has created a new resource to combat this threat of violence. Learn how Safe Routes to school can be leveraged to combat violence in minority communities. Access this resource  here. Access the Spanish ...

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