Articles by Amanda Merck

Latinos, Why is Organ and Sample Donation Important? Ask 3-year-old Jade Hércules and Her Family

February 14, 2014

Jade Hércules, was born in July 2012 in Guatamala, where she was diagnosed with terminal liver disease. She needed a donor. Jade's condition deteriorated over the next year to the point where her parents thought, as she celebrated her first birthday in July 2013, she wasn't far from her final moments on earth. Then doctors at University of Chicago Hospital, where her family had come to seek treatment, told her parents a liver donor was found. “We were grateful to God for the parents who had the courage to donate their little boy’s organs because thanks to them our little girl is alive. We always think about the parents who made this miracle possible because it is truly a blessing that a year later although she is not yet walking, Jade can stand and is such a happy ...

Join Tweetchat 2/18/14: How Can We Grow Healthy Changes for Latino Kids?

February 13, 2014

Salud America! and Community Commons invite you to a #GrowingHealthyChange Tweetchat about how to grow healthy change, from better food to more physical activity to healthier marketing, for Latino kids at 1 p.m. central (2 p.m. eastern) Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. Growing Healthy Change is a new website from Salud America! to empower healthy community changes—improved access to healthy food/physical activity, healthier marketing, etc.—for Latino kids locally and across the nation. At the site, people can: map their school, city, county, state, or nation to see what changes are growing for Latino kids; find resources to start a change; watch and read about real-life “Salud Heroes” of change; and become a “Salud Hero” by uploading their own stories. Follow the Tweetchat on ...

Salud Heroes of the Week: Latina Sisters Use Craigslist to Start Fitness Program for Kids

February 10, 2014

Editor's Note: Salud Heroes are a weekly feature from the Salud America! Growing Healthy Change website, which aims to empower healthy changes in Latino communities through news, resources, and stories. San Antonio sisters Makayla Esparza, 9, and Alyssa Esparza, 8, led largely inactive lifestyles. They saw a weight-loss contest on TV and decided to get active and help others get active, but they didn’t know of any afterschool programs to join and they didn’t have anyone to be active with. This led to their big idea: invite all the kids from their neighborhood for a 90-day get fit challenge to improve. With the help of their grandmother, Dawn Guerrero, Alyssa and Makayla posted an ad on Craigslist to invite kids to be active with them. They also invited members from the ...

New Website: How to Grow a Healthy Change for Latino Kids in Your Area and Beyond

February 5, 2014

Want to fight Latino childhood obesity, but don’t know where to start or how to make a change? Start at Salud America! Growing Healthy Change. The new website is a first-of-its-kind clearinghouse of Latino-focused resources and stories to promote changes—healthier marketing and improved access to healthy food and physical activity, etc.—for Latino kids in your neighborhood and across the nation. Right now at the site, you can: Input your address and create maps at the school, city, county, state, or national level to see what changes are growing for Latino kids, or search by topic (e.g., healthier school snacks, active spaces, sugary drinks); Find resources to start a change; Watch and read about real-life “Salud Heroes” of change; and Become a “Salud ...

Study: Latino, Black Physicians Needed to Eliminate Disparities

February 3, 2014

Blacks and Hispanics make up more than 25% of the U.S. population, but only 15% of doctors. More than 54% of African American, Hispanic and Asian patients select or depend on physicians of color for their care, making it critical for physicians from these backgrounds to provide medical care in the nation’s most racially and culturally diverse communities, according to a new study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The study also notes: 70% of non-English-speaking patients received care from African American, Hispanic or Asian physicians. Asian, Hispanic and Black patients were also found to be 19 to 26 times more likely to be cared for by physicians of their same race. Low-income patients were one-and-a-half to two times more likely to be cared for by Black, ...

NFL and AHA create Mobile Fitness App to Get Youth Moving

January 30, 2014

The National Football League teamed up with the American Heart Association to create a mobile app that encourages fitness and physical activity, Prevent Obesity reports. The NFL Play 60 app is a game that requires players to run in place and jump through a course of parks, city, and street views. Because players run in place and jump in place, they can use this app to be active indoors and outdoors, or anytime they want to get a few minutes of physical activity! Like many other popular games available to young people, the player collects coins and has different achievements while playing, like "Run 1000 yards!" Unlike other mobile app games, in the NFL Play 60 game if you don't run in place or jump, your character doesn't either! Youth can choose their avatar, and ...

Latino-Serving Corner Stores Get Healthier in Philadelphia

January 29, 2014

It is hardest for minorities, like Latinos, in urban areas of the United States to purchase healthy foods close to home, according to a new study, Saludify reports. The team for the study, led by Dr. Carolyn Cannuscio of the University of Pennsylvania and published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, interviewed nearly 500 people about their food shopping habits in West and Southwest Philadelphia. They also accessed the quality and variety of food offerings at more than 370 stores—about 80% corner stores—in the area. Most of the corner stores scored very low on the healthy food assessment. Despite the fact that 90% of the residents in the area said the corner stores were the closest to their residence to shop, only one-third of those residents said they ...

Study: Malnourishment Present in Healthy Weight Latino Children

January 27, 2014

A recent study from scholars at the Center for Healthy Policy at the University of New Mexico on Hispanic children in the Rio Grande Valley found that obesity is not the only health issue affecting youth. Although obesity has been the main issue with the diet and health of Hispanic youth, malnutrition due to a limited diet is becoming an major concern. The study found that in the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic children ages 2-19 tend to be more malnourished and overweight or obese than non-Hispanic children, but the healthy-weight Hispanic youth have higher rates of being malnourished than their obese counterparts. Malnutrition in young children can stunt growth and cause irreversible issues. Although researchers are emphasizing a diet that is full of low-fat or low-calorie options, ...

Report: Institute of Medicine on Getting 60 Minutes of Activity for Students

January 24, 2014

A report and infographic from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) shows the mental, physical, and academic benefits of students receiving 60 minutes of physical activity per day. The IOM report says that even with busy schedules, youth can get 60 minutes of physical activity per day through taking advantage of active transportation to and from school, classroom activity time and brain breaks, recess with free play and engaging equipment, physical education class, after-school programs, and intra and extramural sports. Physical Education classes are a big contribution to the amount of active play students have in their school day, but have been pushed aside due to financial and academic pressures in recent years. IOM suggest that PE classes need to be a priority and should include a ...

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Amanda Merck

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