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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

The Economic Burden of Physical Inactivity: A Global Analysis of Major Non-Communicable Disease



In July 2016, The Lancet published its second Series on physical activity, which presents an update of the field since 2012 when physical inactivity was identified as important a modifiable risk factor for chronic diseases as obesity and tobacco, as well as the largest systematic review on the associations of of sedentary behavior and physical activity with all-cause mortality, and the first global estimate of the economic burden of physical inactivity. Direct health-care costs and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to physical inactivity  were estimated for coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and colon cancer, and productivity losses were estimated with a friction cost approach for physical inactivity related mortality. According to ...

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Pregnancy: Unhealthy Weight May Impact Your Baby’s Health


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Weight gain is among the main worries for the majority of pregnant women, but healthy weight gain is more important than you may think, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente (KP). According to KP's study pre-pregnancy and excessive weight gain during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of children becoming overweight at age 2. The study also found that breastfeeding for at least six months helped reduce the likelihood of a child being overweight at age 2. Other key findings: Children whose mothers gain excess weight or have elevated blood sugar during their pregnancies are more likely to become overweight or obese during their first decade of life. Daughters of overweight mothers who develop gestational diabetes are significantly more likely to experience ...

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Physical Activity 2016: Progress and Challenges



One hour of physical activity per day could offset the risk of sitting for 8 hours per day. However, regardless of physical activity, watching TV for three hours or more per day was associated with increased risk of death, except in the most active quartile (ie, about 60-75 minutes per day), where risk of death was significantly increased only in people who watched TV for 5 or more hours per day. In 2012, in The Lancet's first Series on physical activity, physical inactivity was identified as important a modifiable risk factor for chronic diseases as obesity and tobacco. Modifiable risk factor is something that a person can modify now to improve their health, such as quitting smoking, reducing body fat percent, or walking more. In July 2016, The Lancet published its second ...

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Sitting for More Than 10 Hours Linked to Heart Disease


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If you sit for too long, 10+ hours to be exact, you may be at risk for heart disease—a condition that affects millions of Latinos in the U.S., according to a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center, Univision reports. For their research investigators studied 700,00 adults for over 11 years and concluded that those who spend 10 or more hours a day sitting or lying down increased their risk for heart disease and the longer you sit the higher the risk. “We would like to encourage people to maintain an active lifestyle and avoid prolonged sitting", lead researcher Ambarish Pandey told Univision. To lower your risk experts recommend that you do at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity and that workplaces offer standing desks to their ...

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Austin Creates Data Portal to Improve Health



Healthy ATC is a data portal created by Central Health, the City of Austin Health & Human Services Department, and Travis County Health & Human Service and Veterans Service to help community members and policy makers learn about health indicators that affect the health and quality of life of Austin Travis County (33.8% Latino) residents. Healthy ATC focuses on the four priority health indicators in their area which include diabetes, tobacco, obesity, and HIV. It provides local health data, resources, best practices, news articles and information about community events. Their goal is to strengthen and build healthier communities through the provision of state-of the art web-based assessment and improvement tools to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and ...

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New York City Soccer Initiative to Build & Maintain 50 Fields



A public-private partnership in New York City (28.6% Latino) to build and maintain 50 soccer fields in underserved neighborhoods across the five boroughs over the next five years. Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the New York City Football Club and adidas are the team behind the New York City Soccer Initiative to reduce inequality in parks and outdoor spaces to give kids safe places to be physically active. Physical activity is a critical component of health. Unfortunately, many Latinos face inequity in access to safe places to play, thus face disparities in obesity rates, and numerous chronic diseases associated with physical inactivity. Take a moment to consider how YOUR life and health would be impacted if you ...

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Early Exclusive Breastfeeding Associated with Longer Telomeres in Latino Preschoolers



Regardless of weight status, proper nutrition-starting as early as breastfeeding-has long been associated with positive health outcomes. A new study, published in July 2016, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, UCSF, found that exclusive breastfeeding rates among Latino infants ages 4-6 weeks is associated with longer Telomeres when the children were evaluated at age 4 or 5. Additionally, children who drank soda four or more times weekly showed a much faster rate of telomere shortening than children who drank less or no soda. What are telomeres and what role do they play in our health? Telomeres are the protective bits of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in cells and are measured in white blood cells. As we age, our white blood cells aren't as effective at ...

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Video Presentation: Breastfeeding at the Border of Mexico and the U.S.



Breastfeeding rates are low along the El Paso/Juarez border. Ruth Lawrence, MD, Summit Chair and former editor-in-chief of Breastfeeding Medicine, gave a presentation developed by Rosalba Ruiz-Holguin, MD, MPH, project coordinator and chair of the Alliance for Border Collaboratives/Binational Breastfeeding Coalition in El Paso, Texas, at the Eighth Annual Summit on Breastfeeding. In this video, Lawrence addresses some barriers that breastfeeding mothers face, including: less schooling, no prenatal care, no education about breastfeeding, no maternity leave, low incomes, no access to healthcare, having a C-section, unsupportive husbands, cultural beliefs, and having lived in the U.S. for more than 5 years. Experts in the field, as well as many non-traditional partners, must address ...

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Calorie Counts Will Be Part of Beer Labels



Do you know how many calories are in an ice cold beer? Soon, you’ll have the answer right in front of you. The National Beer Institute recently announced that all breweries will soon begin labeling their beers with number of calories per serving, Yahoo News reports. “This decision is a response to an announcement by the Beer Institute, which encouraged member companies to begin labeling their products with specific information, such as ingredients, calories, protein, fat, and alcohol volume, as per request of the consumer.” If you can’t wait to know how many calories are in your beer of choice the Center for Science in the Public Interest has posted the calorie counts of the most popular alcoholic drinks ...

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