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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

CONTEST: How to Create Super-Healthy Schools



Students consume up to half their daily calories at school. WATCH and VOTE for new Salud America! #SaludHeroes who push healthy food and physical activity at school by April 29, 2016, and be entered in a random drawing to win a FREE T-shirt and jump rope! #SaludHeroes at school are: School Navigators. Rocio Muñoz helped embed bilingual, bicultural health navigators to increase parents’ access to health services into elementary schools in Corvallis, Ore. Breakfast is Back. Michaelie Love, a high-schooler in San Antonio, Texas, worked with her school to get a cart to make eating breakfast easy, healthy and cool. BMX Fun. School principal Doug Johnson used biking and a sweet BMX trail to make physical activity fun for elementary students in Mountlake Terrace, ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 1p ET 4/12/16: “How to Alter Health Messaging to Promote Prevention for Latinos”



Health messaging is a critical way to empower health equity. But without relevant, culturally competent health messages, Latinos will continue to face vast health disparities in diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers, especially in the face of conflicting unhealthy marketing by the food and beverage industry. Let’s use #SaludTues on April 12, 2016, during National Minority Health Month, to tweet about how healthcare professionals, public health professionals, city leaders, businesses, schools, and you can alter language and images in their health messaging to promote health for Latinos. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “How to Alter Health Messaging to Promote Prevention for Latinos” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, April 12, 2016 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag ...

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How California Is Boosting In-School Physical Activity



With funding from The California Endowment, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program has launched a new initiate, Active Students, Active Minds, to help elementary, middle, and high schools in California (38.6% Latino) provide 60 minutes of physical activity for kids through a 60 minute equation (see image for equation). Any school staff member is eligible to register their school for free. When a school registers to participate, a school representative will have access to resources, trainings, assistance from national experts, and a customizable assessment tool and action plan, and will be prompted throughout the year to solve the 60 minute equation. Each week, schools will receive 2 simple classroom breaks/activities and a bonus activity to reach the ...

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The World Health Organization Wages War on Diabetes



Around the world, 1.5 million people die of diabetes each year according to figures from the World Health Organization. In the United States, diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death and 12.8% of U.S. Latinos suffer from it. "Diabetes is an ancient disease that is taking a growing toll on the modern world. In 1980, 108 million adults were living with diabetes. By 2014, that number had risen to 422 million—8.5 percent of adults—reflecting a global increase in risk factors such as being overweight or obese. Even though we have the tools to prevent and treat it, diabetes now causes some 1.5 million deaths a year. High blood glucose causes an additional 2.2 million deaths," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in commemoration of World Health Day. On its first Global Health ...

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New York Just Passed Nation’s Best Paid Family Leave Program



On Monday, April 4, 2016, New York (18.6% Latino) passed the nation's best paid family leave policy-part of the 2016-2017 State Budget. "When fully phased-in, employees will be eligible for 12 weeks of paid leave when caring for an infant, a family member with a serious health condition, or to relieve family pressures when someone is called to active military service." The purpose of this bill is to help workers take care of their families without worrying about losing their paycheck, paid maternity leave included. The Unites States is one of three countries-out of 185-that does not provide paid maternity leave. Lack of maternity leave is one of many barriers Latina mom's face to breastfeed. Providing maternity leave could have a profound affect on Latino health. According ...

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Lace Up & Go



Did you take a 30-minute walk today? According to research, going for a stroll during your lunch break or after work can significantly reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. To raise awareness of the health benefits of walking the American Heart Association is challenging everyone to lace up their sneakers and go for a 30-minute stroll! To learn more click ...

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San Antonio Metro Health Department Releases New Chronic Disease Fact Sheets



In April, 2016, the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health Department, in Bexar County, Texas (59.3% Latino), released their latest chronic disease fact sheets in English and in Spanish. It is important to understand the health status and health behaviors of your community, as well as the context in which those behaviors occur, in order to identify health disparities and inequities in social and environment conditions. This is the first step to creating a community that makes the healthy choice the easy choice, and ultimately, to creating a culture of health. Access the following fact sheets: Overweight & Obesity in Bexar County 2014  Sobrepreso & Obesidad en el Condado de Bexar 2014  Diabetes in Bexar County 2014  Diabetes en el Condado de Bexar 2014  Copy ...

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Study: Cost of Insulin More Than Doubles



Insulin is a critical hormone used in the treatment for diabetes—a condition that affects millions of Latinos. According to a recent study, the cost for this vital medication has more than doubled between 2002 and 2013, Newsmax reports. "The large increase in costs can largely be explained (by) much greater use of newer types of insulin known as analog insulins," said senior author Philip Clarke of the University of Melbourne in Australia. "While these drugs can be better for some patients, they are much more costly than the human insulin they replaced.” According to researchers of the study, the annual spending on insulin per patient “increased from $231.48 to $736.09 over the study period.” "Although the newer, more expensive insulin analogs appear to have incremental ...

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New Study Provides Insights into Latinos and Diabetes


Hispanics_Worry_About_Diabetes

The National Alliance for Hispanic Health conducted a survey to explore challenges and opportunities for diabetic Latino and found that although diabetes rates are higher among Latinos than whites (12.8% vs 7.6% whites), 25% of Latinos with diabetes responded "no" or "don't know" when asked if their doctor or other health care provider had told them what type of diabetes they have, which is almost twice as high as for non-Latino whites. Only 12% of Latinos regularly see a healthcare provider to manage their diabetes. As far as key disease management practices, only 30% of Latinos identified being physically active and only 6% identified maintaining a healthy weight. "The survey showed us that there are specific areas within diabetes education and awareness that need to be ...

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