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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

Safe Routes to Schools Leads to More Student Walking and Biking


Safe Routes to school

According to a recent research review, the Safe Routes to School program has been successful in increasing the proportion of students that walk and bike to school. The Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program provides education, encouragement and road improvements to create safe conditions to increase rates of walking and biking. This is particularly important for low-income populations who tend to experience greater rates of obesity and pedestrian injury and tend to live in areas with poor walking conditions. Participating schools were more likely to be in high-density areas. These areas found fewer rates of child pedestrian injuries and increased rates of walking and biking compared to areas that did not participate in SRTS. Additionally, rates of walking and biking increased over ...

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Program Helps Kids Adopt Healthier Lifestyle, Prevents Excess Weight Gain


playing baseball physical activities

Hispanic children who participated in a unique weight-maintenance pilot intervention were more likely to adopt healthy lifestyles, resulting in healthier weights, than children who didn’t participate, according to a UT Health San Antonio study in the June 2015 issue of the journal Childhood Obesity. The pilot study, which paved the way for a new $2.9 million grant to test the intervention on a larger scale through 2019, was implemented with parent-child pairs in a rural clinic in New Braunfels, Texas. Children who participated were Hispanic, ages 5-14, and obese/overweight. “Comprehensive behavioral programs have been shown to help these children improve their weight status. However, more efficient interventions that can be done in primary care clinics must be developed for ...

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Latinos, los mas afectados por el síndrome metabólico


child and adult health

Un tercio de los adultos en Estados Unidos sufre de síndrome metabólico, siendo los Latinos los más afectados, reporta Latina Magazine. Cerca del 39% de los Latinos sufre de este síndrome a comparación con el  37.4 % de los blancos y 35.5% de  los Afro-Americanos. El síndrome metabólico es también conocido como la “tormenta perfecta,”  ya que representa una serie de enfermedades cardiovasculares como alta presión,  altos niveles de azúcar y colesterol. Lo que es alarmante para los médicos e investigadores es que la probabilidad de padecer de síndrome metabólico incrementa con la edad. La mitad de las mujeres latinas mayores de 60 años padece de este síndrome. “Esto es concertante porque sabemos que  la población de  los Estados Unidos está ...

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Lace Up your Sneakers, Today is National Running Day


running on track National Running Day

The first Wednesday in June is National Running Day (or Global Running Day)! This is the perfect day for runners to reaffirm their passion for running and it is also a good day for beginners to begin a life-changing commitment to running. If you haven’t laced your sneakers yet, today might be the perfect day to go out for a stroll or a run. According to experts the benefits of running include: An increase of good cholesterol A boost of feel-good chemical serotonin levels in the brain Decrease your risk of developing blood-clots Get active for National Running ...

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Niños de bajos recursos más propensos a ser obesos


Primary school kids run holding hands in corridor, close up

Niños de bajos recursos son más propensos a ser obesos según un estudio por JAMA Pediatrics, reporta Univision Noticias. El estudio revelo que entre  los niños de edad pre-escolar de familias de escasos recursos el número de obesidad ha subido desde 1998 en comparación a niños de familias adineradas, quienes han tenido una reducción en los índices de obesidad. "Al dividir a los niños por grupos socioeconómicos, aparece que el aumento es bastante grande en los de familias más pobres", dijo Ashlesha Datar, de la University of Southern California, en Los Ángeles a Univision Noticias. El estudio analizo datos de casi 17,000 niños que ingresaron al jardín infantil en 1998 y los comparo con datos de  15,500 niños que ingresaron en el 2010. El estudio revelo que ...

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27,000+ People Tell Taco Bell: Quit Pushing Sugary Drinks


taco bell sugary drinks

More than 27,000 people across the nation recently wrote letters to urge Taco Bell to quit pushing sugary drinks and add healthier drink options, like low- or no-fat milk. The letters highlighted Taco Bell’s recent beverage rollout of sugar-filled drinks, like the favorite Manzanita Sol, and subsequent aggressive marketing of these drinks on social media. Letters were collected by Salud America!, an obesity research and communication network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Salud America! leaders delivered 27,748 letters to Taco Bell this week. We will post their response here in coming days. Why is this effort so important? Studies find that Latino kids already drink more sugary drinks each day than their white peers, and have higher rates of ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 1p ET 06/2/15: How to Get People to Eat their Veggies


Fresh assorted vegetables in boxes on farmer's market

June is National Fruit and Vegetable month. Doctors recommend an average of 2 cups a day of veggies, but many eat less. How can we change that? Join us along with USDA-Choose My Plate and FoodCorps to come up with ways we can make vegetables more accessible to more people, and how grocery stores and cities can also play a role in that process. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: DATE: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 TIME: Noon CST (1:00 PM ET) WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludToday CO-HOSTS:  @MyPlate @FoodCorps Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter/X and share your stories and resources. #SaludTues is a Tweetchat on Twitter/X that focuses on a variety of different health issues. From September 2014 to March 2021, ...

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Keeping Up with Kids’ Dental Habits During Summer


dental health brushing teeth

Salud Today Guest Blogger Jefferson Dental Clinics While summer break is most certainly a time to rest and adventure with family, disruption of regular routines and less daily supervision can have destructive effects on the dental health of children. “It is important for children to learn and recognize that dental health is a year-round practice, not simply a practice for when it’s convenient,” says Dr. Leslie Townsend, DDS., Regional Dental Director at Jefferson Dental Clinics. “Summertime is a great time for parents to reinforce daily brushing and flossing habits with their kids.” Keeping up with kids’ dental health during the summer is important for keeping kids healthy all year long. Families can use these tips for maintaining healthy dental habits ...

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