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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

NYC Rally for Speed Safety Cameras to Protect Every School



Speeding is the number one cause of traffic fatalities in New York. The most common cause of death for kids in New York City, outside of illnesses, is traffic crashes. “Right now we only have 140 speed cameras to protect 1.1 million public school students, and those cameras only work 60 hours a week – even though 85% of injuries and deaths happen on streets and during times when speed cameras are not authorized to issue violations,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “Every child in New York City deserves to be safe on the way to school.” Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, a group of New Yorkers who have lost loved ones or been injured in traffic crashes started a new campaign to bring awareness to traffic ...

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Researchers Look into Sedentary Habits and Heart Disease Among Latino Women



Researchers at the newly created Women’s Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University have started a four-year, $3.7 million study to look at the link between sedentary habits and cardiovascular health among Hispanic and Latino women over 55. The study is funded by the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women Strategically Focused Network. The study will recruit 250 Latino women to track their sitting and analyze their cholesterol, blood sugar, and other bio-markers related to cardiovascular health.  Investigators will also analyze data collected from 400 women who participated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a long-term survey of more than 16,000 U.S. Latinos. Although worldwide research ...

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#TrailsMatter: Reframing Investment in Trails Beyond Recreational Benefits


Salud America

Local governments across the country are realizing the importance of a multimodal transportation network to not only reduce traffic congestion, but to increase road safety, drive economic development, and improve health. "While local officials have historically seen trail networks primarily as a means of recreation, people are increasingly using them as ways to get to work, school, or wherever they need to go," Mayor Patrick Wojahn of College Park, Maryland wrote in a guest post on CitiesSpeak, the official blog of the National League of Cities. Hundreds of thousands of deaths per year could be prevented if residents met the minimum physical activity guideline recommendations of 30 minutes of physical activity per day for five days per week. Considering the growing Latino ...

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Obese Mexican-Americans Under 40 at High Risk for Kidney Disease



Obese young adults in the U.S., especially Mexican-Americans, are at high risk of developing kidney disease, Health Day reports. "Even though chronic kidney disease typically manifests in older people, the disease can start much earlier but often is not recognized early on," said study leader Dr. Michal Melamed. After analyzing data from over 6,000 people, researchers concluded that 11% of obese Mexican-Americans between ages 20-40 had high levels of the protein albumin, which is linked to albuminuria, a condition often associated with chronic kidney disease. "Because treatment options for [chronic kidney disease] are limited, prevention is the best approach for those at risk," Melamed added. "A healthier lifestyle in young adults will go a long way toward promoting kidney ...

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Tennessee to Increase Physical Activity Requirements for Elementary Schools



On March 31, 2016, Tennessee Governor, Bill Haslam, signed a new bill which increases the weekly requirements for physical activity in grades K-6. The new law will go into effect in July 2016 requiring 225 minutes of physical activity per week for Tennessee (5% Latino) students in grades K-1, and 160 minutes per week for students in grades 2-6. This is a drastic increase from the previous requirement of 90 minutes per week for all grades, although students in grades 7-12 will still only receive 90 minutes. More specifically, the law requires a minimum of three 15-minutes periods of non-structured physical activity at least four days a week for grades K-1, and a minimum of two 20-minutes periods of non-structured physical activity at least four days a week for grades 2-6. Many ...

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Systems Building Toolkit and Video



The BUILD Initiative works with early childhood leaders within states and nationally to better prepare young children to thrive and succeed. They developed a Community Systems Development Toolkit tailored to the needs of community-based collaboration and organized in systems change theory to provide communities interested in or engaged in collaborative work with comprehensive resources that cover the full spectrum of community systems and coordination work Watch BUILD Initiatives new video that explains their work and why taking a systems building approach is key to helping young children thrive! Share this video and toolkit with parents, educators, doctors, social workers, park district coordinators, business leaders, and policymakers who support healthy environments for ...

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San Antonio Brings Back the Agricultural Power of the Missions



On May, 20, 2016, after 35 years of negotiations, the National Park Service the San Antonio Food Bank finalized a land use agreement allowing the Food Bank and its volunteers to grow crops on 45 acres of farmland at  Mission San Juan Capistrano. Five acres of land will be used used for demonstrations of the 1730's Spanish colonial acequia system-an acequia is a type of ditch used to irrigate crops-and forty acres will be farmed and managed by the Food Bank. "In the 1700s, the fields were maintained by indigenous mission inhabitants and irrigated with acequias, carefully engineered irrigation ditches that were hand-dug to carry water from the San Antonio River to the farmland," Park superintendent Mardi Arce said, according to one source. Los Compadres, the official nonprofit ...

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What You Need to Know About the Latest Nutrition Facts Label Changes



After two years of working on modernizing the current Nutrition Facts label, the US Food and Drug Administration has rolled out its anticipated new food labels. The latest changes will make it easier for everyone, especially parents, to pick nutritious foods for their children. The changes include: Bold and easy to read “Amount per serving calories.” Packages that are between one and two servings, such as a 20-ounce soda, the calories and other nutrients will be required to be labeled as one serving because people typically consume it in one sitting. “Dual column” labels to indicate both “per serving” and “per package” calorie and nutrition information for certain multi-serving food products that could be consumed in one sitting or multiple sittings. ...

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The Picture of Health: At Home, at Work, at Every Age, in Every Community



The Urban Institute's mission is to open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions through economic and social policy research. Health is high on the list, not only because of the ever-increasing healthcare costs and societal costs related to American's poor health-obesity, heart disease, diabetes-but health is influenced by numerous aspects of our lives, not just what happens in the doctors office. In the Urban Institute paints the picture of health in America in their The Picture of Health: At Home, at Work, at Every Age, in Every Community series, which was funded with support from the Lawrence & Rebecca Stern Family foundation, Inc. The Picture of Health project weaves research into storytelling, looking at numerous aspects of our lives that influence health. The ...

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