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Amelie Ramirez

I am director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. I have spent 30 years directing research on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease, cancer, and obesity health disparities affecting Latinos.

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Articles by Amelie Ramirez

Latina Mom and Baby Health Research: Early Childcare



This is part of our Latina Mom and Baby Health: A Research Review » Children spend many hours in early childcare settings Most young children spend a significant amount of time in day care, preschool, pre-kindergarten (pre-K), and Head Start programs.164 An estimated 60 percent of children younger than 6 are placed in some form of non-parental care during the work week, averaging.164 nearly 30 hours per week. This presents an opportunity for childcare centers and providers to encourage healthy behaviors in young children and to better educate parents on how to continue healthy behaviors at home.164 Early childcare settings can promote healthy behaviors Evidence from the literature supports the notion that childcare is an important resource for promoting healthy behavior among ...

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Latina Mom and Baby Health Research: Future Research


latina mom with baby food bottle

This is part of our Latina Mom and Baby Health: A Research Review » Future research needs Childhood obesity continues to be an ongoing epidemic in the U.S., especially among Latino youths. While many of the potential policies and interventions discussed in this review have been investigated in the literature in low-income or WIC-enrolled populations, many have not been thoroughly investigated directly in Latino populations. In order to further support the policy implications described herein, it will be important for investigators to provide further clinical evidence that these approaches are capable of affecting positive changes in childhood obesity endpoints in Latino infants and preschool-aged children. Future studies are particularly needed in the areas of paid parental ...

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Latina Mom and Baby Health Research: Policy Implications



This is part of our Latina Mom and Baby Health: A Research Review » Conclusions Early infant feeding habits surrounding breastfeeding and formula supplementation can impact childhood obesity among Latino youths. State and federal policies may be able to improve exclusive breastfeeding rates and duration by promoting support for breastfeeding in hospitals, childcare centers, workplaces, schools and public areas. Latina women may not be meeting recommendations for physical activity and/or gestational weight gain during pregnancy, and there is a need for increased education of expectant Latina mothers by their physicians. By increasing physical activity and reducing gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy, childhood obesity rates may be positively affected. As poor eating ...

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Latina Mom and Baby Health: A Research Review



Abstract One of four U.S. kids is already overweight or obese by age 2-5, with a higher prevalence among Latino kids (30%) than white kids (21%). How can we promote a healthy weight by kindergarten? Mothers’ physical activity and healthy eating habits before and during pregnancy play a big role. Breastfeeding also has many positive effects on children. Interventions or policies aimed at improving breastfeeding rates, while reducing formula marketing, among Latina mothers may be critical to promoting healthy weight goals. Healthy eating and physical activity habits established during early childhood care settings also is a stepping stone toward lifelong health. Read the Issue Brief in English (PDF) Read the Issue Brief in Spanish (PDF) Contents Introduction & ...

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Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: Future Research



This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review » Future Research Needs To effectively address the issue of overweight and obesity among Latino children and adolescents, additional research is needed to better discern the impact of the school food environment on Latino weight status. Future studies should directly address the question of whether reducing access to competitive foods has long-term positive effects on BMI among Latino students. Additional studies should more firmly establish the contribution of competitive foods to Latino students’ food choices and consumption patterns, as well as the extent to which the surrounding food environment in Latino communities contributes to overall dietary habits of Latino children and ...

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Healthier Schools & Latino Kids Research: Policy Implications


school food line

This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review » Conclusions When competitive foods are available, Latino students are more likely to purchase and consume these foods than their White peers. Access to competitive foods in schools associated with higher consumption of low-nutrient, energy-dense foods among Latino children and adolescents. While many school districts have a policy that addresses competitive foods, the policies influencing schools with a higher proportion of Latino students are generally weak, though this may decrease as districts comply with the national standards. Given initial evidence on the impact of restricting competitive foods during the school day on student consumption of foods of minimal nutritional value and obesity, ...

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Healthier Schools & Latino Kids Research: Access to Activity Programs



This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review » The need for structured physical activity programs at school Studies have shown that schools can help increase physical activity and promote healthy behaviors among Latino children by providing structured physical activity programs. In a study of 459 middle school girls (73% Latina) who participated in Get Moving!, a school-based intervention aimed at increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary behaviors, girls who received the intervention were significantly less sedentary (P <0.05) and more intrinsically motivated to engage in regular exercise (P <0.05) compared with girls who received no intervention.53 Participants in the Grand Canyon Trekkers program, a 16-week structured walking ...

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Healthier Schools & Latino Kids Research: Physical Activity


Optimized-HealthierSchools-PhysicalActivity

This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review » Latino students have few options for physical activity during school Studies suggest that Latino children may have fewer opportunities to engage in physical activity at school than their White counterparts. In a study evaluating physical education and recess practices among U.S. public elementary schools,44 elementary schools with primarily Latino students were less likely than those with primarily White students to offer 20 minutes of recess daily. Latino schools were also less likely than White schools to offer physical education for at least 150 minutes per week, although the difference did not reach statistical significance. A study of 102 public elementary schools in Rhode Island revealed that ...

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Healthier Schools & Latino Kids Research: School Food Policies


healthier school snacks

This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review » Latino schools tend to have less effective food policies While most school districts have a policy that addresses competitive foods, results from several studies suggest that the policies at schools with more Latino students are generally less effective and many schools have not implemented them.32–34 For instance, a longitudinal analysis conducted between 2001 and 2008 examined the BMI of 6,300 racially and socioeconomically diverse students from 40 states that set standards for competitive foods.33 Law strength and consistency were identified as two key factors affecting the law’s positive influence on student BMI. States with a relatively high proportion of Latino students were more likely to ...

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