Take a Stand to End Over-Policing in Walking and Biking Initiatives



The Safe Routes to School National Partnership (Safe Routes) is raising awareness to end over-policing as a safety solution in walking and biking initiatives. Racial profiling by police, for example, threatens drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists of color. These Latinos and other minorities, who already face less safe roads and fewer places to walk and bike, deal with a greater burden of traffic and pedestrian violations, too. Safe Routes wants you to stand up for minorities by sharing on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. “As walk and bike advocates, we need to come together to protect people in communities made vulnerable not only by missing and poorly maintained bike lanes and sidewalks and inequitable policies, but also by over-policing,” wrote Holly Nickel, coalitions and ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 7/17─A Smokefree Future for Latinos & All People


breaking cigarette smoking smokefree

Cigarette smoking is on the decline. But it still causes 480,000 U.S. deaths a year and certain groups still face big challenges. Latino young adults, for example, have higher rates of intermittent cigarette use than their white peers. How can we promote quitting and smokefree environments? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, to tweet about the state of Latino smoking and what community leaders can do to advance technologies, policies, and programs to create a smokefree future for Latinos and all people! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat─ Creating a Smokefree Future for Latinos & All People TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, July 17, 2018 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: Smokefree.gov at the ...

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‘1 in 5 Minds’ Campaign Urges Sharing Stories to Bust Childhood Mental Health Stigma



"Will they think I’m crazy? Will they think my child is crazy?" Parents and kids worry what other people will think if they talk about childhood mental health issues. Negative stigma often keeps them from seeking help. This isn't news to Michele Brown, vice president of marketing and development at Clarity Children’s Guidance Center in San Antonio, Texas (63.7% Latino). Brown knows the shocking stats all too well: 1 in 5 kids suffer from mental illness. Of those, only 1 in 5 receives treatment. These stats spurred Clarity's "1 in 5 Minds" campaign to share stories, counter mental health stigma, and boost support, Brown said. The Problem of Mental Health Stigma Stigma is when someone, or even you yourself, views a person in a negative way just because they have a ...

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Salud America! Talks Childhood Trauma on The Preschool Podcast



Our own Amanda Merck recently joined HiMama’s The Preschool Podcast to talk about addressing childhood trauma in early childcare and schools to build better futures for Latino and all children. HiMama, which offers tools to help educators improve childhood development, hosts The Preschool Podcast every Tuesday with its co-founder and CEO Ron Spreeuwenberg and a guest. Merck, who curates content for Salud America! on early childhood development, joined podcast episode #103, Impacts of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences, on July 3, 2018. Merck spoke about the critical formative years from 0 to 5 in a child’s development and how childhood trauma, like abuse and poverty, affect a child’s body and brain. However, early childcare educators are rarely trained to deal with ...

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Workshop Turns Janitors into Latino Health Advocates


health workers promotores

Promotores de salud are trained community members who promote everything from proper sleep to reducing child abuse among Latinos. Did you know even janitors can be promotores de salud? In fact, the nonprofit Building Skills Partnership and the U.S. Office of Minority Health conducted a workshop in June 2018 to help organizations secure health grants and train low-income male custodians to promote early detection of HIV and Hepatitis C to their Latino friends and family. The project had two phases: A three-day grant-writing workshop for organizations like Para Los Niños, the National Health Foundation, Esperanza Community Housing, The California Hispanic Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, El Centro de Ayuda, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Los Angeles Alliance for ...

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Could a Childhood Virus Play a Later Role in Alzheimer’s Disease?


Alzhiemer's and viral infectious disease

A childhood virus that infects almost everyone and lies dormant in the body for life might be involved in Alzheimer’s disease, NBC News reports. A recent study by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai examined 622 brains afflicted with Alzheimer’s and 322 disease-free brains. Researchers found increased levels of two Roseoloviruses—human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) and human herpesvirus 7 (HHV7)—interacting with gene networks in areas of the brain that are known to be affected in Alzheimer’s Disease. HHV-6 and HHV-7 cause roseola, a disease that usually infects babies and toddlers and is found in 90% of U.S. children. Roseola usually causes a fever and sometimes a rash and rarely causes complications, although it can cause a dangerous brain inflammation called ...

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Don’t Experience the Fourth of July without This Drink


july fourth party water drink

Water is a key ingredient for every good Fourth of July party, whether you are poolside, at the beach, or at a family barbecue on this sweltering summer day. That's because drinking water can keep you hydrated as you sweat outside. Sweating during the sizzling heat of July can lower the body's water level. This can cause dehydration. It can affect normal bodily functions in the heart, brain, and lungs. So how much water do the experts order? "To avoid dehydration, active people should drink at least 16- 20 ounces of fluid one to two hours before an outdoor activity. After that, you should consume 6 to 12 ounces of fluid every 10 to 15 minutes that you are outside," according to the Cleveland Clinic website. "When you are finished with the activity, you should drink more. How ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 7/10: Minority Mental Health: Curing Stigma & Creating Healthier Minds



July is Minority Mental Health Month. Why is it important to acknowledge Minority Mental Health Month? First and foremost, mental illness does not discriminate. However, Latinos are far more likely than their peers to have mental health issues, according to a Salud America! Research Review. Furthermore, these issues often go unaddressed and untreated. Let's use #SaludTues on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 to tweet about promoting healthier minds in communities of color in honor of Minority Mental Health Month. What: #SaludTues Tweetchat – Minority Mental Health: Curing Stigma & Creating Healthier Minds Time/Date: 1-2 P.M. ET (Noon-1 P.M. CT), Tuesday, July 10, 2018 Where: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: Mental Health America ...

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Latina Filmmaker’s Web Series Helps Bodegas Push Healthier Food



Evelyn Brito went to buy some vegetables for her 2-year-old daughter, but was stunned to find no fresh produce in her local bodega, a small grocery store in her Spanish-speaking neighborhood in Lynn, Mass. (38% Latino). Instead, unhealthy chips, cookies, and processed foods lined the bodega shelves. Brito wanted to change all that. Brito, an independent filmmaker and marketer, turned the cameras on the local food environment and engaged bodegas in finding a solution. That led to “Bodega Makeover,” a unique docu-reality web series. The Junk Food Problem in Lynn Brito grew up around bodegas in Boston. Her father worked in one when she was a child. “I would go to a bodega to get freshly peeled oranges for less than a dollar and the owner would ask me how my ...

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