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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

Vision Zero Coalition to Slow Vehicles With Better Street Design in Denver



Traffic deaths are not an acceptable byproduct of "life in the fast lane," but are preventable tragedies that can be eliminated by better street design and smart public policy. Simple things, like narrowing the driving lanes of a street, can slow drivers down. In late November 2015, Vision Zero advocates in Denver (31.8% Latino) started a coalition to support the city's anticipated formal adoption of the Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries. The coalition is expected to launch in the summer of 2016. The founding members are Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC), WalkDenver, BikeDenver, and the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. They are seeking involvement from other organizations and buy-in from community members to implement key ...

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America Walks Will Provide 25 Walking College Fellowships



America Walks is offering 25 Walking College Fellowships for their 15-week training program designed to strengthen local efforts to make communities more walkable and livable. The curriculum has been designed to cultivate skills that are necessary to become effective change agents. Apply for a Walking College Fellowship if you: Have a passion for making your community more walkable and livable, and a vision for what that would look like; Want to develop a network of peer mentors and learn to advocate more effectively for walkable community policies and funding; Are willing to invest your personal time and energy in training. Applications for the Walking College Fellowship will open on March 15, 2016. Learn more here. Copy and Share: 25 Walking College ...

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Why Junk Food Cravings Increase After a Sleepless Night



Not getting enough sleep at nights may be causing your junk food cravings, according to a  study. After scanning 23 young adults after a normal night’s sleep and after a sleepless night researchers at UC Berkeley found “impaired activity in the sleep-deprived brain’s frontal lobe, which governs complex decision-making, but increased activity in deeper brain centers that respond to rewards. Moreover, the participants favored unhealthy snack and junk foods when they were sleep deprived.” “What we have discovered is that high-level brain regions required for complex judgments and decisions become blunted by a lack of sleep, while more primal brain structures that control motivation and desire are amplified,” said Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and ...

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3 Hours Outdoors Could Reduce Risk of Nearsightedness in Youth



Nearsightedness (myopia) can cause permanent vision impairment and is a growing concern for youth. Researchers predict that by 2050, 60% of the world will be nearsighted, a drastic increase from 24% in 2000. Skyrocketing rates in youth are thought to be driven by lifestyle factors, such as decreased time outdoors and increased time doing close-at-hand activities, like electronic devices. In 2009, based on epidemiological studies suggesting that time outdoors could reduce the risk of nearsightedness, Ian Morgan, a myopia researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, launched a three year study adding 40-minutes of outdoors time to school kids class schedule. Only 30% of the kids who spent the extra time outdoors developed nearsightedness compared with 40% of ...

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Nearsighted Rates are Skyrocketing – Getting Outdoors Can Help


Latina girl with glasses eye health

Researchers from Brien Holden Vision Institute, University of New South Wales Australia predict that by 2050, 60% of the world will be nearsighted, a drastic increase from 24% in 2000. Nearsightedness-myopia-can cause permanent vision impairment. Projected increases in nearsightedness are thought to be driven by lifestyle factors rather than genetic factors-the increased trends are seen in age groups younger than 40 years, and genetics can't explain temporal trends observed over a short period. Lifestyle changes include decreased time outdoors and increased time doing close-at-hand activities, like screens. The solution? Get outdoors more, get your eyes checked, and spend less time on near-based activities like electronic devices. Learn more about predicted rates of ...

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Study: Food Insecurity Can Lead to Mental Health Problems



Teenagers living in food insecure households (1 in 4 Latino children) are twice as likely than their peers to have emotional problems, a new study reveals. "These findings add to our growing understanding of food insecurity and its implications, and demonstrate that food insecurity is an independent risk factor for mental health problems among adolescents," said lead author Dr. Elizabeth Poole-Di Salvo of Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. For the study, researchers used data from kids ages 12-16, and interviewed, in most cases, the teen’s mother who answered several questions such as economic difficulties in meeting food needs over the last 12 months and their child’s emotional symptoms. Researchers found that nearly 29% of teens with food insecurity had mental ...

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The National Shared Use Task Force Created Shared Use Ambassadorship Program



In the Spring of 2016, the National Shared Use Task Forced announced the winners of the Shared Use Ambassadorship Program, a new national recognition program that acknowledges the work of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are advancing shared use in their respective communities. The goal is not only to recognize individuals, but to collect and share success stories across the country in the shared use field as a way to encourage others. "They are at the forefront of some of the most creative and effective shared use strategies, from engaging hospitals and exploring the role of shared use in hospital settings, to amplifying the youth voice to effectively advocate for shared use in their schools, to tackling the challenges of shared use implementation in rural ...

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Mission Trip Leads to Public Health Revelation



In 2009, Lisa Ellis-Veraza traveled with Missionaries of Charity to deliver blankets, medicine, and other aid to people in Tamahu, Guatemala. Many in Tamahu struggle with poor health, relying on a diet of tortillas and sugary coffee, and lacking access to fresh water, fruits, and vegetables. A lot of children are severely malnourished. When aid workers tried to bring children to clinics and provide better nutrition, it was a struggle to gain the permission of their parents, Ellis-Veraza said. “My awareness of the need of access to health care and communication began to build on this trip, as I realized that not only having access to health care is needed, but also clear and culturally appropriate education on why health care is needed,” Ellis-Veraza said. “This way, ...

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Attitudes, Knowledge, and Behavior Related to Outdoor Walking and Bicycling



In 2012, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a national telephone survey to obtain a status report on attitudes, knowledge, and behavior related to outdoor walking and bicycling. This study updates national telephone survey data collected by NHTSA in 2002. The survey addressed safety and mobility issues; obtained trip information; and explored perceptions and use of public facilities such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and bicycle paths. Volume 1: Summary Report - Summary findings from the survey and compares selected results to the 2002 administration. Volume 2: Findings Report - Detailed findings from the survey and compares results to the 2002 administration. Volume 3: Methodology Report - Detailed information on the survey methodology, as ...

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