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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

Latina Assemblywoman Raises Awareness of Food Deserts, Lack of Safe Transportation & Childhood Obesity in NJ



How can we all be a part of making 2015 great? According to New Jersey Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-20th) we can start by supporting efforts to improve child health and equipping underserved communities with the tools they need to live a happy and healthy lifestyle. In a recent op-ed piece, Quijano shared what many researchers and health care practitioners are already aware of---that many Latino and African Americans do not have easy access to healthy food.  She discusses how more often than not communities that lack easy access to healthy food, called food deserts, struggle with an endless cycle of obesity. Along with the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, many low-income Latino communities must deal with additional barriers such as a lack of safe transportation to ...

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CHALK Collaborative Helps Latino Community in NYC Get Healthy & Active



Watch the video to see how CHALK'S efforts are inspiring a culture of health among Latinos in upper Manhattan. Latino kids and families of a primarily a Dominican and Mexican community in Washington Heights (northern Manhattan), are living a healthier lifestyle thanks to help from the Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids (CHALK) initiative. The CHALK initiative is a collaborative between the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Columbia University Medical Center, and a taskforce of several community affiliates, that was started in 2008. In 2012, the program was adopted as a permanent program of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. As part of the program, local bodegas, pharmacies, schools, restaurants and community fitness centers,  provide the community with ...

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Shared Use Bill To Become Law in Ohio



Families and children in Ohio are one step closer to having increased access to school playgrounds during non-school hours, thanks to legislation recently passed by Ohio lawmakers. According to a blog from the American Heart Association (AHA), legislators enacted this bill on December 17, 2014. The bill will become law 90 days after it's signed by state Governor John R. Kasich. The bill which was supported by State Rep. Gerald Stebelton (R-Lancaster) helps clarify concerns around liability. Often such issues can keep school districts from allowing facilities to be shared with the public during after school hours. “The ability for schools to open up their doors to the community will help maximize community involvement and hopefully begin to support activities that lead to ...

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Upcoming Webinar: How to Add More Activity Into the School Day



How can you get involved with helping to promote more physical activity both during and after school hours? Check out the Action for Healthy Kids webinar for ideas! The webinar is scheduled for  Wednesday January 14, 2014 and 3:00 pm - 4:15 ET.  Parents will learn about creative ways and resources for promoting and supporting more movement both in the classroom and beyond. Examples of topics that will be discussed include: o   More effective recess o   Fitness breaks at school o   Before and after school activities o   Walking and biking to school o   Physical activity for middle and high school students Click here to register for the webinar. Learn more about the need for more physical activity in Latino communities and about the prevention of Latino ...

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Program Offers Free Bus Fare For The Next Three Years in Missoula, MT



Residents living in Missoula, particularly those who ride the bus, can expect to save some extra dollars over the next three years thanks to a new initiative which will provide free bus fares to the community. According a news article from the Missoulian, the zero-fare riding initiative will save some riders up to $520 year. Over the next three years the zero-fare service along with phase 2 improvements are expected to increase ridership in the community by up to 45%. Although riders will not have to pay for bus services, this initiative could not have been made possible without the support of 14 different community partners who pitched in $460,000 in sponsorship money. “A fare, no matter how small, is a barrier for some folks that keeps them from riding the bus,” ...

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Portland State University Students Develop Plans for a Local Parklet



Students from Portland State University are paving the way for a new parklet to be built in the city's SoMa eco district, on Southwest 4th Avenue. The parklet would bring outdoor seating to the area, encourage active transportation, and promote a greater sense of community. Food carts in the area of the planned parklet already attract many locals. With the added parklet locals would also have a place to sit and gather. Once complete, this would mark Portland's third parklet. The students are currently working to raise $15,350 through a  crowdfunding campaign. As of January 6, the group had raised $7,892 in funds for the project. Watch the video below to learn more about this initiative. https://youtu.be/C0y3kjxeT6o Click here for more information. Visit the ...

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Residents Seek New Plan for Active Transportation in Lebanon, IN



Plans for more active transportation in the small city of Lebanon, Indiana are underway. According to a news story from reporter.net nearly 20 residents gathered in December 2014 to discuss plans for a proposed bike & pedestrian master plan. The plan came after local residents met in February for an active transportation workshop. Shortly after the workshop a steering committee was formed and engineers were hired to help residents formulate the plan. A draft of the latest plan was presented at a city meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17th, 2014. Read the full story ...

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Plans for Orange County Bike Park in the Works



How can we succeed in getting more kids outside playing and being physically active? Why not a bike park? Bike parks are recreation facilities dedicated to the purpose of biking. They include various types of trails and pump tracks---segments of a trail or track that is designed for bicycling without pedaling. If you've never heard of a bike park, you'll want to know about the The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)'s Bike Park Initiative and about the work they are doing to aid cities in making biking accessible and attractive for all.  The Bike Park Initiative which was developed in partnership with the SRAM Cycling Fund and People for Bikes, identifies promising local government agencies and provides them with technical assistance to create state of ...

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How One Mom Fought Junk Food in School and Won



The blog School Bites is run by a mom who wants to provide the healthiest and most nutritious food for her children. At home she can help teach them healthy eating, but at school her children and other students are exposed to a lot junk food. Over the past couple of years she has been fighting to make the food culture a healthier place in her local school district and here is what she had to say on her blog about what she accomplished: What finally worked was a stronger dis­trict well­ness pol­icy com­bined with teacher edu­ca­tion (SEE Healthy Class­rooms Ini­tia­tive: Edu­cat­ing Teach­ers on Healthy School Cel­e­bra­tions, Non-Food Rewards & More). I man­aged to get a spot on a com­mit­tee that was con­vened to update our pol­icy accord­ing to the ...

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