How do you a make a city vibrant and healthy? One good place to start is by investing in its parks like New York City's mayor Bill DeBlasio has committed to doing. On October 7, 2014 the mayor announced a $173 million dollar initiative to re-create 35 parks (65.5 acres of parkland) in communities of high need. According to an NYC press release, the first phase of the Community Parks Initiative (CPI) will impact at least 220,000 New Yorkers, across 55 different neighborhoods, who live within a 10 minute walking distance of the targeted parks. “Through targeted investments and programming, we will engage New Yorkers by re-creating parks in communities that need open space improvements the most, Mayor de Blasio said in the press release. "This is a framework that will ...
A regional health disparities research program has unveiled a new website, membership opportunity, and scholarships under the direction of Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Dr. Ramirez’ program is called GMaP Region 4. It is one of six regional GMaPs (or Transdisciplinary Geographic Management Programs) funded by the National Cancer Institute to bring together local networks of investigators to collaboratively identify and address health disparities in regions across the country. GMaP Region 4 is enhancing local communication, recruitment, and evaluation capacity to support health disparities research, training and outreach in Arizona, New Mexico, ...
Vacant lots can be so much more than just unused space. In Los Angeles, two city councilmen hope their proposal will turn the city's vacant lots into thriving food gardens. A motion introduced in October by Councilmen Felipe Fuentes and Curren Price calls for landowners to receive tax breaks for leasing vacant property for agriculture. Recently, the state legislature of California approved the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act, which authorized a tax adjustment for private property owners who lease land for commercial or noncommercial agriculture use for at least five years. This motion would do the same thing locally. According to an article in the L.A. Times, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council estimates that 8,600 parcels in Los Angeles would be eligible. "This ...
Kids and families now have safer streets thanks to a community-led effort which resulted in the addition of two new crosswalks and stop signs for one Concord, CA neighborhood. According to a First Five Contra Costa blog, in 2012, at least 12 members from their Central County Regional Group banned together to conduct a walk audit of local streets and intersections. What community members discovered was that two important intersections, often crossed by families and children, were not walkable under current conditions. After the walk audit, the team decided to go a step further by developing recommendations for their city council. In May 2013, the regional group members and staff from Health Services presented their need before city council and within a week stop signs ...
The HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Eat Healthy – Be Active workshops are now available in Spanish. Each workshop promotes evidence-based health information and learning materials for Spanish speaking consumers to make informed decisions related to nutrition and physical activity and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Materials are designed for people with limited health literacy. Order “Eat Healthy—Be Active” workshop materials in Spanish and ...
The Garland Multicultural Garden plot at the Garland Community Garden was officially installed on October 8th, 2014 in Garland, TX, a city considered part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The new plot is a collaboration between Loving Garland Green, a local non-profit dedicated to increasing urban gardens in Garland, and the Garland Community Multicultural Commission. The multicultural garden plot represents an extension of the learning format of the Garland community garden network. According to a blog post by Loving Garland Green member Liz Berry, some of the most beautiful and productive gardens in the city are those grown by residents who are not native to Texas. Loving Garland Green hopes that through the installation and participation of members of the city's ...
Every year, 21% of new HIV/AIDS cases are diagnosed among Hispanics in the US. Let’s focus on changing this by using #SaludTues to tweet about innovative campaigns to improve prevention and programs to find solutions to HIV/AIDS in the Latino community: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Latinos and HIV/AIDS: Problems + Solutions”
DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014
TIME: Noon CST (1:00 PM ET)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludToday
CO-HOSTS: @NLAAD (National Latino AIDS Awareness Day), @AIDSgov (AIDS.gov), and @TalkHIV (CDC) On Oct. 14, the eve of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, we’ll open the floor to your stories and experiences as we explore: Why is HIV/AIDS such a big issue for Latinos?
What factors and challenges contribute to increases ...
More than half of the estimated U.S. cancer deaths projected to occur this year are related to preventable causes, according to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) reports. The top preventable cancer causes are: Tobacco use (33%)
Obesity or overweight (20%)
Cancer-causing pathogens (16%)
Insufficient physical activity (5%)
Poor dietary habits (5%)
Exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun or tanning devices (2%) The report indicates that more than 50% "of the 585,720 cancer deaths expected to occur in the United States in 2014 will be related to preventable causes." But changes with changes to diet, activity habits and weight, approximately 1 in 3 cancer cases are preventable, according to the AICR. "More ...
A year after launching the Power Up for 30 campaign in 2013, Georgia Shape continues to offer schools the opportunity to commit to bringing an additional 30 minutes of physical activity to students throughout the day. According to a 2012 Georgia Latino Health Report, less than half of Latino middle school students (42%) met physical activity recommendations. Therefore, to keep kids active and to keep the Power Up for 30 movement strong, Georgia Shape, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Department of Public, is offering a free one-day training program to teams of three representatives per school. They are also encouraging schools to sign a pledge to offer at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day. As of September 2014, 347 ...
