New research centers in Harvard and John Hopkins and USC will work to address research in hopes to improve health in communities overburdened by pollution and environmental factors. The Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors Center (MADRES) will recruit and research 750 mother -infant pairs from low-income urban hospitals in the Los Angeles area over three years to determine how environmental factors impact child weight, and how psychological stress and behavior risk factors impact the mother's weight gain before and after pregnancy. Pollution was been shown to be a key factor in pregnant rats gaining weight within a recent study. Latino's are often faced with higher risks for obesity, explained Keck School of Medicine professor, Carrie Breton, ...
Working together to discuss actions to reduce obesity in children and adolescents, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) hosted a roundtable discussion with government representatives, nongovernmental organizations and private sector groups. The discussion focused on the Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents, drawing on actions to help healthier options become the easier options. A few key points discussed were taxes on sugary beverages and junk foods, protecting children from unhealthy marketing, and food labeling, along with policy and programs for healthier foods and water access for schools and increased physical activity in schools. To see all groups and participants involved, click here. Copy & ...
According to researchers from the American University in Washington, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behaviors may be reduced with healthier living habits. Reducing screen time, drinking more water and making time for exercise were all recommendations by lead study author Kathleen Holton, who explained in a recent article that all kids who follow these healthy habits will benefit. Researchers studied and compared data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Sleep Foundation, recommending children to exercise at least one hour a day, no more than two hours of screen time and reducing the consumption of sugary beverages. Latino kids are more likely to drink sugary beverages than their white peers, having ...
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has officially helped move the FDA to publish sodium-reduction targets for 150 categories of packaged and restaurant foods. The CSPI group explained in a recent article that the average American consumes almost twice as much as the recommended federal dietary guidelines of sodium daily. CSPI hopes that these new reductions of excess sodium in foods will help prevent billions in health care costs and save lives from preventable heart attacks and strokes. To learn more about this healthy change in foods, click here to read the full CSPI report. Copy & Share on Twitter: Good News! @US_FDA issues voluntary sodium reduction targets! Thanks @CSPI #BetterFoods! ...
Working together, local government and non-profits in Santa Barbara, Calif. (43.74% Latino) are redesigning the food environment to focus on health and sustainability. According to a local article, over half of county residents are overweight or obese, and face difficulties in access to healthy foods, affordable housing, health care and more. A Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) report on health behavior shows that over 70% of adults or 214,354 adults over the age of eighteen within the county have inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption- consuming less than five servings of fruit and vegetables each day. "Population growth in the county is expected to increase by 100,000 people", Sigrid Wright of the Community Environmental Council told the Pacific Coast Business Times, ...
College friends Tori Ostenso and Emily Pence met through volunteer opportunities while in school. They soon learned there was plenty of fresh produce in their neighborhoods, but immigrant families lacked access to these healthy options in Rice County, Minn. (8% Latino population). The two students wanted to help. They eventually started a mobile market and eventually began a weekly program to help Latino and other families have greater access to an affordable bag full of fresh local organic vegetables.
Abundant Fresh Produce, But Inequitable Access
Victoria (Tori) Ostenso became keenly aware of the bounty of healthy fresh produce grown in Northfield, Minn (8.4% Latino) while working at Carleton College’s two-acre organic vegetable farm in summer 2012 after her freshman year ...
Many cities are being more thoughtful in the amount of sugar that is in food, even purposing soda taxes, or sugary beverage warning labels to decrease sugars found in many convenient food and beverages options throughout stores and restaurants. According to reports from YouGov, some cities are more concerned with sugar consumption than others, noting reports on soda's and other sugar-filled products to add to health risks like obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. The data shows the percent of people in each city that say they are concerned about sugar levels in the food they consume, with Denver at the highest percent concerned of sugar levels, 50%, and the lowest concerned city about sugar as Houston at 29%. The data also reported the cities that consume the highest amount of ...
Soda taxes may not be the only way to help consumers choose healthier beverages in Philadelphia, now a new tax proposal may help corner stores look at healthier beverages in a different light. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown purposed to a new "healthy beverages tax credit" to allow corner stores to get a tax break for stocking more healthier beverages into their corner stores. The tax would give a tax credit against their business taxes for what they spend on healthy beverages for one year and the difference for the next year's expenses, benefiting stores like delis, pharmacies, and corner stores that stock healthy beverages versus the common sugar-based sweeteners of high-fructose corn syrup. According to a recent article, Brown hopes the tax will encourage more consumption ...
A new program called Students for Nutrition and Exercise (SNaX) is helping obese students in Southern California have healthier weights for longer periods of time. According to a recent article, SNax combined school-wide environmental changes, encouragement fo healthy eating, healthy foods in cafeterias and peer-led education and marketing to help students change their body mass index (BMI). Over 1,368 students heights and weights were assessed before and after two years of the program in over five schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District where thirty percent of the students were classified as obese at the start of the program. Two years later students showed a "significant decline" in BMI, around nine pounds lower in body weight, according to the article. The ...
