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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

How an ‘Exercise Avoider’ Becomes an ‘Exercise Promoter’



Laura Esparza used to be an “exercise avoider.” She steered clear of physical activities that resembled the P.E. classes of her youth, and had little confidence to work out or try playing any sports. That changed when Esparza, a parent of three children and community volunteer in San Antonio, Texas, grew increasingly concerned with rising local obesity levels and learned that daily physical activity is an essential element of everyone’s physical and mental health. Now she exercises regularly and is an avid “exercise promoter” at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she researches ways to increase Latino families’ physical activity. “Spurred by my own experience, I became interested in ...

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Innovation in Preventing Latino Cervical Cancer, Obesity & More



Find the latest in Latino health—from fighting Latina cervical cancer to innovative ways to tackle Latino childhood obesity—in the new E-newsletter from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. The IHPR E-newsletter has these stories: Story and Video: Preventing Cervical Cancer in South Texas (Pg 1) Story: How an “Exercise Avoider” Became an “Exercise Promoter” (Pg 2) Story: The Importance of Latino Biospecimens (Pg 2) Story: 20 Studies Tackle Latino Childhood Obesity (Pg 3) Story: Who is Promotora of the Year? (Pg 4) Videos: “Feeding Minds” Series Addresses Hunger, Obesity in Texas (Pg 6) The E-newsletter is jam-packed with even more info on the latest local and national health ...

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San Antonio Restaurant Program Helping Latinos Get Healthy, Lose Weight



¡Por Vida!, launched in October 2010, is a San Antonio restaurant recognition program that aims to help adults and children make healthier food choices by identifying menu items that meet certain nutritional guidelines. The obesity prevention program is one arm of a larger city effort that implores residents to "Find Your Balance" and get healthy. Since it started, a dozen restaurants have joined the program. Watch these videos to see how San Antonio residents Pedro Garcia and Sylvia Niño are dropping pounds thanks to the ...

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Study: Immigrant Mothers Feel Powerless to Address Weight Problems



Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 20 is Dr. Miriam Vega. Find all briefs here. Dr. Miriam Vega “La Familia en la Cocina is Speaking Two Languages” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Miriam Vega of the Latino Commission on AIDS in New York south interviewed Latina mothers and children to better understand their knowledge, attitudes and communication behaviors related to food consumption and preferences, as well as the built and cultural environments in which they make decisions. Key preliminary findings include: a large gap exists in the manner in which a mother and child communicate; and many immigrant ...

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EVENT: 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 ...

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Making the Connection: Linking Policies that Prevent Hunger and Childhood Obesity



In the past, food insecurity and obesity were viewed as separate public health problems, yet research now shows that people with unreliable access to food are also more likely to be obese. A new brief, Making the Connection: Linking Policies that Prevent Hunger and Childhood Obesity, released by Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides policymakers seeking to address hunger in their communities with policy options that can also contribute significantly to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Some of the policy strategies outlined in the brief include: Establishing healthy food financing initiatives to increase access to nutritious foods; Supporting farm-to-institution, farm-to-school and school garden ...

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Study: Children in South Texas ‘Colonias’ More Likely to be Sedentary, Obese


Nelda Mier

Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 19 is Dr. Nelda Mier. Dr. Nelda Mier “Built Environment Policy for Physical Activity in Mexican-American Children” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Nelda Mier of the Texas A&M Health Science Center investigated Latino children’s perceptions of environmental factors that influence their physical activity, and documented environmental characteristics in colonias in South Texas. Colonias are unincorporated settlements along the U.S.-Mexico border where many people live in impoverished conditions and lack basic services such as running water. Key preliminary findings ...

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More Than 15% Obese in Nearly All U.S. Metro Areas



Adult obesity rates were higher than 15% in all but three of 190 metropolitan areas surveyed in 2011, according to a Gallup and Healthways report. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, residents—who are predominantly Latino—were the most likely to be obese, at 38.8%. Nationwide, 26.1% of American adults were obese in 2011. The Gallup report indicates that the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area pays more than $400 million in unnecessary healthcare costs each year because of its high obesity rate. "If it reduced the obesity rate to 15%," according to the report, "the area could potentially save more than $250 million ...

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Food Security for All: Report of Two Workshops



Check out this new report from the National Academies Press about food security for all people. The report summarizes results from two recent food security workshops hosted by the National Research Council's Science and Technology for Sustainability Program. The first workshop, Measuring Food Insecurity and Assessing the Sustainability of Global Food Systems, explored the availability and quality of commonly used indicators for food security and malnutrition; poverty; and natural resources and agricultural productivity. The second workshop, Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies, focused specifically on assuring the availability of adequate food supplies. How can food production be increased to meet the needs of a population expected to reach over 9 ...

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