Tell USDA: We Want Healthier Dietary Guidelines!


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The USDA wants your opinion to shape the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans! The guidelines aim to help people choose an overall healthy diet. They have specific nutritional targets and dietary limits for children (ages 2-18), adults (19-64), and older adults (65 and older). Now, for the first time, the guidelines will cover pregnant women and babies (birth to age 2). What do you think the guidelines should recommend? How does it impact Latinos? Speak up! Copy a model public comment developed by our Salud America! research team, click the "submit" button, and paste the comment in the USDA's comments submission website by March 30, 2018. Model Comment: General I urge the USDA and HHS to create the strongest possible Dietary Guidelines to ensure that all kids, parents, ...

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Study: Latino Cancer Survivors Enjoy Higher Quality of Life—If Satisfied with Their Care


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Latino cancer survivors who were satisfied with their care had higher quality of life and more confidence dealing with their doctor, emotional distress, and daily activities than those less satisfied with their care, according to a new study by UT Health San Antonio and Northwestern University. The study, published in Cancer, surveyed 288 Latino breast, prostate, and colon cancer survivors in San Antonio and Chicago about patient satisfaction with cancer care influences their quality of life and confidence managing different aspects of their cancer experience. Overall, Latino cancer survivors in the study reported lower health-related quality of life than that of non-Latino white survivors in previous studies. Latino survivors who reported more satisfaction with their cancer ...

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KaBOOM!’s New Play Everywhere Playbook



Playing can help a kid's healthy brain development. But many communities are not kid-play-friendly. Latino neighborhoods tend to lack safe places that welcome kids and multi-generational families to play. That's why KaBOOM! created the Play Everywhere Playbook. The Playbook helps cities design healthy play spaces with kids in mind. The Playbook is has four sections built on input from city and community leaders, health experts, urban planners and affected families: Fundamentals: defining what makes a space a PLAYce—wondrous, convenient, inviting, shared, unifying, challenging and intentional Design guides: streets and sidewalks; parks trails, and public spaces; transit; multi-family housing; commercial spaces; civic spaces; and moveable and pop-up play Case ...

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Get $1.4 Million to Help Communities Withstand and Recover from Disaster


truck after hurricane disaster preparedness

Local leaders can get $1.4 million to help their community prepare for, withstand, and recover from disasters, thanks to a new two-year grant opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The new grant aims to help community leaders and researchers create "resilient communities." Resilient communities can anticipate and adapt to unexpected challenges, like the recent devastating hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico. Disasters cause damage from infrastructure to the local economy. They also impact institutionalized discrimination, access to healthcare, and mental health issues and stress. For example, Texas leaders formed a task force to respond to mental health issues in schools impacted by Hurricane Harvey. How prepared is your community for an ...

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Report: Latino Kids Suffer More Poverty and Gaps in Education, Health Opportunity


Latino farm boy in poverty and food insecurity

Latino and other minority youth have higher rates of poverty and greater gaps in education and health opportunity than their white peers, according to a new report. The 2018 County Health Rankings found that: Poverty rates among children and youth are at least 1.5 times higher than rates among adults aged 18 and older, and the rates are even higher for Latino, Black, and American Indian/Alaskan Native children and youth. Child poverty rates for Latino and Black children are worse across all types of counties, and are even higher in suburban counties than for White children in rural counties. More than 1 out of every 5 youth in the bottom performing counties do not graduate from high school in four years. It's worse among racial/ethnic groups. 1 out of 4 Latino youth do not ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 3/20: Celebrating Child Life Specialists & Kids with Disabilities



As the U.S. Latino population continues to grow so does the need for quality health care services. Yet many Latinos remain uninsured and face barriers to care like poverty, and a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Latino children who are chronically ill or who have special needs are especially vulnerable due having the lowest rates of insurance coverage when compared to other minority kids. Despite these challenges, every child deserves the best quality of healthcare services available. For children who are chronically ill, this may take the form of a child life specialist, who can provide evidence-based therapeutic play and therapy to a child and also help establish trust with families. Let’s use #SaludTues on March 20, 2018, to chat about ways to ...

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Teachers Ditch Cars, Embrace Alternative Transportation



Nearly 9 of 10 teachers wake up, get in cars, and drive solo to Arlington Public Schools every day in Arlington County, Va. (15.4% Latino). This clogs the streets and pollutes the air outside schools. So, with the student and staff populations set to rise in coming years, how could Arlington get its staff and parents to drive less, and instead use healthier transportation options like ride-sharing, walking, biking, and mass transit? They tried "transportation demand management," or TDM. TDM is the opposite of building bigger roads and parking lots. It focuses on helping people use alternatives to driving. "At its most basic level, TDM is a program of information, encouragement and incentives provided by local or regional organizations to help people know about and use all ...

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Don’t Just Work Out—Try Maria’s ‘Transformation Station’


Maria Guerra heart health transformation station

When fitness guru Maria Guerra designed her gym, she of course plotted space for all the usual stuff, like free weights, exercise machines and classes. Guerra also made room for something she’d never seen in any gym. She calls it a “transformation station” and it’s essentially a heart-health resource center. There are tools to measure blood pressure and body mass index, plus charts and brochures to help make sense of those readings. The information is in English and Spanish, and it’s free to everyone, client or not. The station also includes a “challenge wall.” This is where people who are ready to improve their fitness post before and after photos; challengers get to update their “after” image each month. “Why work out and have pretty muscles if the ...

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