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Amanda Merck

Merck completed her MPH with a concentration in Physical Activity and Health. She curates content for Salud America! (@SaludAmerica), a Latino childhood obesity prevention project based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. She focuses on the latest research, resources, and stories related to policy, systems, and environmental changes to enhance equitable access to safe places for kids and families to walk, bike, and play.

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Articles by Amanda Merck

New Research Discovers Promising Approaches to Prevent Latino Childhood Obesity



Guided grocery store trips, menu labeling at restaurants, community gardens, and video-game-based exercise programs are among several promising, culturally appropriate ways to prevent obesity among Latino children, according to a new collection of studies from Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children published in a supplement to the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Salud America! is a national network of researchers, advocates, and policymakers established in 2007 that seeks environmental and policy solutions to Latino childhood obesity, an American epidemic. The supplement focuses on Salud America! achievements in the past five years and features 19 papers of groundbreaking research on ...

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Cool Video & More: Latino Teens, Families Pushing for Healthier Policies



How can... Latino Teens Push for Healthier Policies? (Pg 1) Researchers Spur Advocacy Action? (Pg 3) Videos Showcase Healthy Lifestyles? (Pg 6) Find out in the Salud America! E-newsletter. Also find lots more news, research and funding inside the E-newsletter, and discover the preliminary research results of several Salud America! grantees working in Latino clinics, communities, and schools. Salud America! is funded by RWJF and directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, which developed SaludToday. To sign up to receive Salud America! E-newsletters, go ...

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Survey: Latinos Less Likely to Monitor Their Weight, Diet & Other Health Indicators



Latinos are less likely to track their weight, count calories or keep tabs on other health indicators, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, Fox News Latino reports Only about 51% of Latinos—compared to 60% of U.S. adults as a whole—track their weight, diet, or exercise routine. Latinos also are slightly less likely than the overall population to track health indicators or symptoms, like blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches, or sleep patterns (25% to 33%), according to the news report. Latino also were less likely to use smartphone health apps to track health indicators than black and white smartphone owners. The Pew Research Center survey, which polled more than 3,000 people by phone in English and Spanish in 2012, ...

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Video: ‘The Real Bears’ Dramatic Take on Soda Now in Spanish


the real bears

Sugary drinks are a top source of calories in the American diet. This is troubling because the nation is struggling with an obesity epidemic. Given that Latinos especially suffer from higher rates of obesity than several other population groups, "The Real Bears," a recent animated short film that has generated more than 2 million views on YouTube, has now been converted into Spanish. “The Real Bears,” which tells the story of a family suffering the adverse health effects of soda, including obesity, tooth decay, and diabetes and its associated complications, including amputation and erectile dysfunction, is produced by nonprofit group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). It features an original song by Grammy-award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Mraz and ...

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The Latest Progress in Improving Latino Health



Find the latest advances in Latino health—such as a new strategy for helping Latinas after an abnormal breast mammogram—in the IHPR Noticias E-newsletter from Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez’ Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. IHPR Noticias has these stories and more: Story and Audio: For Latinas, Patient Navigation Can Speed Breast Cancer Diagnosis (Pg 1) Profile: Guadalupe Campos is Teaching Latinos about Cancer Prevention (Pg 2) Study: Successfully Preventing Obesity in Latino Pre-Schoolers in San Antonio (Pg 3) Videos: 5-Part Video Series on Cultural Aspects of Latino Cancer (Pg 4) Story: Local Program Mentors Disadvantaged Nursing Students (Pg 6) Story: Latinos, a Colonoscopy Can Save Your ...

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Summit Tackles the Latino Paradox of Childhood Hunger and Obesity



While the USDA works with state agencies to provide food assistance and nutrition education to low-income, members of No Mas Hambre say that Latino families continue to struggle with accessing such services. Children in the Latino community suffer the paradox of malnutrition and obesity. While 26.2% of Latino households have been identified as facing food insecurity, nearly 40% of Latino children are overweight or obese. At a recent No Mas Hambre summit in Washington D.C., government officials, non-profit, organizations, and members of the community, gathered address the issue of hunger in the Latino community. Topics discussed at the summit included: challenges to reducing food insecurity; childhood nutrition and food insecurity; the role of faith-based organization; and solutions ...

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Infographic: Hispanic Health in America



Check out this new infographic on Hispanic health from America's Health Rankings, by way of Balsera ...

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Report: Latinos among the Most Obese, Sedentary in U.S.



About 31% of U.S. Latinos are obese and 30.6% have a sedentary lifestyle, higher rates than the overall population (27.8% and 26.2%, respectively), according to a new snapshot of the nation's health. Latinos' obesity and diabetes rates continue to be alarming, experts say. But the news isn't all bad: Latinos' rates of premature death, death due to cancers, cardiovascular deaths and infant mortality all improved, according to an NBC Latino report on the new America's Health Rankings. The rankings, which comes from the United Health Foundation and the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention, looks at 24 measures of health, including tobacco and alcohol abuse, exercise, infectious diseases, crime rates, premature birth rates and cancer and heart disease ...

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Unique Obesity Prevention Program Benefits Weight, Motor Skills in Mexican-American Preschoolers



A new culturally tailored, multi-component obesity prevention program among minority preschool children can help create an environment that positively impacts weight and gross motor skill development in children at risk for obesity, according to a new study in the journal Childhood Obesity. For the program, called Míranos!, researchers from UT San Antonio and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio tested whether it is possible to indoctrinate students with healthy behaviors — for life — via several positive interactions with their parents, teachers and school workers and a supportive learning environment at school and home. Researchers tested the program among predominantly Mexican-American kids enrolled in Head Start in San ...

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