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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

Creator of ‘Fitadelphia’ Unveils New National Online Childhood Obesity Program & E-book


(Source: Cindy Ortiz, La Placita Wellness and Education Center)

Cindy Ortiz founder of Fitadelphia announced a new program, “Fit and Fun in a Flash” in an effort to eliminate childhood obesity in 2014. In 2015, she released an e-book to educate kids about excess sugar and other harmful food additives. Inspired by many years of research, the program promotes the idea that media and social media can help children overcome childhood obesity. According to Ortiz, the idea came to her after watching a group of Fitadelphia Kids play with toy cameras, phones and computer games after their wellness class. She said: “kids love to pretend with toy phones and cameras and interact with the characters on internet games. So why not build a program where kids can take pictures and videos, upload them and share them while interacting with each other on ...

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El Paso Zoo Uses Menus, Signage To Get Kids ‘Wild About Health’



The zoo isn’t exactly a place of health (for humans), with typical fare like popcorn, ice cream, cotton candy, and sugary drinks. However, in El Paso, TX, kids and visitors of all ages are learning fun facts about how they can be healthy by copying habits, like eating fruits and vegetables, from animals. In 2012, the El Paso Zoo installed new signs and healthy menu items to promote good health for its record-breaking 354,130  visitors, and they continue to work with city public health officials to make a healthy lifestyle second nature to the community. EMERGENCE Awareness:  In 2010, El Paso, Texas, a vibrant a city with a rich culture at the west-most point of the state, was named the “third-fattest city” in the U.S. Sue Beatty, a health education and training manager ...

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Lawmakers Reintroduce ‘FIT Kids’ Act to Get States to Raise the Bar on Physical Activity



In order for kids to be healthy and do better in school, more and more researchers are finding that kids need to be physically active. To expand opportunities for physical education in schools, lawmakers have reintroduced legislation which would authorize physical education grants to schools in exchange for states adopting improved physical activity standards. The Fitness Integrated with Teaching (FIT) Kids Act was recently introduced to the house and senate by representatives Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Patrick Meehan, R-Penn., along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. In addition to improving physical activity standards, the bill would serve to restore a 37% of funding cut sustained to the Carol M. White Physical Education Program which occurred during Fiscal Year 2015. Read the ...

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Senators Approve Physical Education As Part of the Core Curriculum For Kids In Grades K-8th



U.S. Senators from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions have approved the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which requires that physical education be taught as part of the core curriculum at both the elementary and middle school levels. The bill which was originally enacted in 1965 and was recently updated to include an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., which reinstates the Carol M. White Physical Education Program, and supports opportunities for students to meet state standards for physical education. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later this spring. Read more about the amendment reauthorizing the Carol M. White Physical Education Program here. To learn more about the importance of providing ...

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Program Boosts Physical Activity Levels for Kids in the Bronx



It's never too early for students to learn the importance of being physically active throughout their day. That's why researchers from the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, developed and tested a new program which would give kids an opportunity to participate in 10-minute fitness breaks up to three times during the school day. The program, which is designed with students in kindergarten and first grade living in the Bronx in mind, is called CHAM JAM, which is short for Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Joining Academics and Movement. “Childhood obesity is a national concern, but it is even more prevalent among minority communities in urban areas such as the Bronx where rates as high as 26% have been recorded among school children ages six to 11 years old,” said Dr. ...

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Latino Health Care Forum Works to Reduce Health Disparities in the Rundberg Area



Leaders from the culturally diverse community of Rundberg, in Austin Texas know all too well about barriers to physical activity. Crime, a lack of sidewalks and poor lighting are just a few of the challenges residents in the Rundberg neighborhood face on a daily basis, says Jill Ramirez, program director for  the Latino Health Care Forum (LHCF). To help change this, in November 2014, LHCF conducted a community needs assessment, and held 5 focus groups, in four different languages (English, Spanish, Burmese, and Arabic). Some of LHCF's key findings include: 1 out of 2 children in the Rundberg are on food stamps; Low wages and housing greatly affect the health of Rundberg residents; Many residents work low-wage jobs because of their undocumented status or a ...

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5th-Grader, Teacher Help Add a Water Bottle Fountain in School



Praxina Guerra and her mentor Cathy Lopez are true Salud Heroes when it comes to creating an environment of school health and fun. After becoming involved with a local student ambassador program and creating a school club to encourage students to adopt healthier practices, the pair collected funds for a water bottle fountain, also called a hydration station, to be installed in the school’s cafeteria. Their team also started monthly Wellness Wednesday fitness events, available to both parents and students, as a way to increase fitness opportunities for the surrounding community. Seeing the Issue of Obesity First-Hand According to a 2009, Bexar County assessment of obesity by school district, 40% of children enrolled in South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD) were ...

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Do Schools Need to Re-evaluate How They Think About PE? What Do You Think?



Physical education (PE) and exercise play vital roles in the healthy development of a child, yet for many schools PE is often underrated. According to Dr. Gregory Myer, director of research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Sports Medicine Division, many kids only get PE once a week. While students must be well prepared academically, can students really thrive and reach their fullest potential without being given an opportunity time to be physically active throughout the school day? Myers believes it's time we take a new approach to how we look at physical activity. Instead of just looking at minutes spent being active, perhaps we need to take into account more. Myers says we should begin exploring  aspects of physical activity that might lead to: (1) ...

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Coalition Urges FTC to Investigate Deceptive Marketing Seen on New YouTube Kids App



A coalition comprised 10 consumer watchdog groups has filed an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging them to investigate YouTube's new kids app, which was launched on February 23, 2015. According to a blog post from Food Politics, the group has charged YouTube with violating section 5 of the FTC act. In a letter the group sent to the FTC on April 7, 2014, the coalition provides examples of how the new kids app deceptively targets kids with ads for toys and junk food. The group claims that the app: Uses advertising and programming in ways that deceive young children; Features “branded channels” for companies like McDonald’s, Barbie, and Fisher-Price; and Distributes so called “user-generated” segments that feature items like ...

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