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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

Study: Health and Wellness Programming in Faith-Based Organizations



More than 90 percent of Latinos are members of faith-based organizations. Many or these organizations such as churches and other faith institutions serve as a focal point for social networking and may therefore serve as an ideal setting for introducing wellness initiatives to Latino children and their families. The preliminary results of this San Antonio, TX based study--Building a Healthy Temple--highlight the need for obesity prevention among Latino children and reveal the strong potential of faith-based communities to serve as centers that promote a healthy weight and an overall healthy lifestyle. Share this resource on social media! Faith based initiative shows promise in promoting health for Latinos ...

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Webinar: Salud America! Free Tools for Healthy Change



On Tuesday July 19, 2016 Community Commons featured Salud America! (SA!) in a webinar that explains how free membership with the SA! website can benefit you! The website provides free tools and stories aimed at creating healthy environments on a daily basis and also gives members the opportunity to: Browse content by one of each six topic areas Search for news updates, research, toolkits, maps, and more! Watch videos and read stories of inspiring role models who are positively impacting the health of Latinos in their community. In order to take full advantage to Salud America! and Community Commons visit the registration page and login in. Salud America! is your source and network for action on Latino childhood obesity prevention. Find more content on how to create ...

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Report: Nearly 1/2 of Latino Kids in Texas are Overweight or Obese



Latino children are disproportionately affected by high rates of obesity. In the U.S. today, nearly 40% of Latino kids (ages 2-19 years) are overweight or obese. Among 2-5 year olds, nearly 30% of Latino kids compared to only 21% of non-Hispanic white children are obese. According to a 2011 report from the Children's Hospital Association of Texas (CHAT), nearly 1/2 of all Latino children in Texas are overweight obese. To learn more about childhood obesity  in Texas read the full report ...

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Breaking: City Council Meets to Discuss Urban Agriculture Plan for Las Cruces, NM



In Las Cruces, NM city council members will meet today, May 23, 2016, to discuss plans for expanding the local agriculture and food environment, through a comprehensive Urban Agriculture and Food Policy plan, developed by local non-profit La Semilla Food Center. Exactly what is urban agriculture (UA)? The idea is to inform leaders about the many forms, benefits and opportunities that UA has to offer the local community. UA is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in and around towns and cities. Through UA communities are no longer held to the idea that local growing is just for farmers or rural communities, but in reality schools, churches, local businesses, housing authorities, residents and virtually anyone with a desire to grow and produce their ...

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ADA’s Camp Power Up! Brings Healthy Choices & Summer Fun to San Antonio Tweens!



It's that time of year again! Summer is nearly hear and we're excited to share this wonderful opportunity for San Antonio youth to get involved in the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) Camp Power Up! This year's 2016 Camp Power Up will take place June 6-10 at San Antonio's Westside YMCA! Camp Power Up! is a FREE healthy lifestyle/diabetes prevention program (est. value $700) open to students ages 10-14 yrs, with a physician's referral. During the week long event, 50 campers and their families will get to enjoy: health/nutrition education; indoor and outdoor fun activities; field trips; parent health education sessions; and a family celebration night Lunch and snacks will be provided, as well as health information and prizes. If you know of a physician who ...

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Youth Poets Help Communities to Step Up vs. Big Soda



Youth and local leaders joined forces to launch Open Truth, a counter-advertising campaign that exposes big soda companies’ marketing tactics. 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. The Problem of Sugary Drinks and Obesity 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 concerned about the rise in type 2 diabetes. They weren’t the only ones concerned. With ...

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El Paso Students ‘Get Hip’ with Health and Wellness



In 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. Physical Inactivity in Schools 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 EPISD ...

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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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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, Texas, 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. How Healthy Is the Food at Your Zoo? 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 ...

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