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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

EVENT 5/23-26/12: New Insights into Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity



The 2012 International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, set for May 23-26, 2012, in Austin, Texas, is a unique opportunity to learn about behavioral nutrition and physical activity, interact with a broad constituency of leaders, and gain new insight into innovations in research, policy and practice. Register here. See a list of key speakers and special features here. Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, is an event sponsor. Salud America! is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Salud America! Director Dr. Amelie Ramirez is chairing two sessions: Environmental Determinants of Nutrition in Latinos (featuring ...

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VIDEO: A California Farmers’ Market Delivers Fresh Food to Low-Income Neighborhoods



What does it take to make a farmers' market viable in a low-income community? The answer is complicated in a neighborhood like Watts, where some people still remember when 103rd Street, which now borders a lively Saturday Farmers Market, was nicknamed "Charcoal Alley" because of the fires that burned buildings to the ground during the Watts Riot of 1965, ReportingonHealth reports: Many unhealthy conditions persist today that contributed to the powder keg atmosphere in South Los Angeles in the 1960s and again during the Rodney King Riot twenty years ago: high rates of unemployment, poverty and crime. Neighborhood schools continue to battle high dropout rates. Gang violence makes some people reluctant to visit unfamiliar territory -- including the Farmers' Market. In a neighborhood ...

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Active Living Research Re-Tools Website



Active Living Research, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national program, has launched an enhanced website to make it easier for practitioners, advocates and policy-makers working on health equity to find needed, helpful information. New features include: MOVE! blog - The latest information on our work and a way for you to stay updated with what’s going on in the field. You can share your stories by commenting on posts. Search – A new search function allows you to search all of our resources by keywords or topic areas, including park access, inequality, minorities, and lower-income. Audience-specific – We’ve added special pages for advocates, practitioners and policy-makers to help you locate information specific to your work depending on your role in the ...

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New Online ‘Videonovela’ Series Helps Spanish-Speakers Compare Diabetes Treatments



A new online Spanish-language videonovela, Aprende a vivir (Learn to Live), features messages to help diabetes patients compare their treatment options to find a regimen that works best for them. The three-episode videonovela series, being distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), tells the story of Don Felipe, who has type 2 diabetes and is head of the Jiménez family, and how he is having a problem learning to manage his disease. Don Felipe, with the support of his family, comes to understand that he needs to speak with his health care team about his treatment options rather than skip his medication because of side effects. Watch Episodes 1 and 2 online or Facebook. Episode 3 will be ...

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Infographic: Obesity, Complex but Conquerable



Check out this stunning infographic from the new report on obesity prevention from the Institute of Medicine ...

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Report: Obesity Fight Must Shift from Personal Blame



America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures—from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax—to fix it, according to a new report released May 8, 2012, by the influential Institute of Medicine (IOM), Reuters reports. The 478-page report, according to Reuters, refutes the idea that obesity is largely the result of a lack of willpower on the part of individuals: Instead, it embraces policy proposals that have met with stiff resistance from the food industry and lawmakers, arguing that multiple strategies will be needed to make the U.S. environment less "obesogenic." The IOM, part of the National Academies, offers advice to the government and others on health issues. Its report was released at ...

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INFOGRAPHIC: America’s Fat Future



Check out this cool infographic on ...

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Using Research to Move Policy in Highly Obese South Texas



Salud America! pilot researcher Dr. Nelda Mier documented a lack of sidewalks, street lights and parks along the poverty-stricken Texas-Mexico border—an environment that she found contributes to obesity and sedentary behavior among Latino children. But this story doesn’t end with just research results. To change the local environment to make it easier to engage in physical activity, Dr. Mier—armed with lessons from Salud America! on how to promote research-based policy change—brought her project research results to community leader and policy advocate Anne Williams Cass. The research helped guide advocacy efforts of local organizations dedicated to affordable housing, including Cass’ Proyecto Azteca, which plans to communicate with Texas legislators about the need ...

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Study: Liver Cancer in Latinos Linked to Diabetes, Obesity



Liver cancer rates among South Texas Latinos are higher than in other U.S. Latinos, as are their rates of obesity and diabetes—and the relationships between these ailments are being mapped by researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. In a study published April 18, 2012, in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers looked at overall liver cancer rates among U.S. Latinos and compared this to a Texas sample and a South Texas subset from 1995-2006. They also compared prevalence among Latinos of lifestyle-associated factors that contribute to liver cancer: heavy alcohol use, smoking, obesity and diabetes. They found that from 1995 to 2006, annual age-adjusted liver cancer incidence ...

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