Food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are great ways to help struggling families put food on the table. But what happens when SNAP recipients live miles away from a full-service grocery store, unable to put their benefits to use? In Montana, a state with a fast-growing Latino population, the food bank network is rolling out a new mobile food pantry. The new, refrigerated truck will begin delivering food boxes to people living in areas 50 miles or farther from the nearest grocery store later this summer, said Gayle Gifford, CEO of the Montana Food Bank Network. The truck is painted like an old-fashioned chuck wagon and made possible through $90,000 from Northwest Farm Credit Services and CoBank, Each box delivered on the truck ...
City council members in Atlanta will consider an ordinance to amend Atlanta's current sidewalk policy on July 14, 2014. According to a Peds.org blog, nine city council members are co-sponsoring the law, which is aimed at reducing the costs of sidewalk repair for owners of private property. Under the current law, private home owners are responsible for repairing sidewalks that lie adjacent to to their property. The proposed ordinance would change that. Additionally, a proposed infrastructure bond would allocate $30-40 million for sidewalk repair or replacement, which could help the city cover the cost of sidewalk improvements. Find out more about the utility committee's proposed ordinances, including the proposed sidewalk ordinance here. Learn more about this change at ...
Latinos are less likely than non-Latino whites to get screened for colorectal cancer, and are more likely to be diagnosed at harder-to-treat stages. Latino men, specifically, have a 17% lower screening rate than non-Latino men. That’s why Dr. Cynthia Mojica, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is creating a cultural- and language-relevant print-based tool to persuade Latino men to get colorectal cancer screening. Mojica’s efforts are fueled by a new grant from the Health Science Center’s Mentored Research Career Development (KL2) Program in Clinical and Translational Science. “The grant award will give me training, mentorship and research support to help me bring the community into the research ...
Drink Up is a new national effort powered by Partnership for Healthier America that has engaged millions of people and brought together nearly 50 supporters from the public and private sector, all committed to encouraging people to drink more water more often. Drink Up Philly will be the first city-focused effort. In the next year, The Food Trust, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Get Healthy Philly initiative, the Philadelphia Water Department and other local partners, will increase the availability and marketing of water in Philadelphia corner stores, schools, farmers’ markets, and Night Market events, reaching more than half a million residents with the message that water is a healthy choice. This far-reaching campaign ...
Latino communities need safe and walkable streets to stay active. In order to make the case for these type of projects, Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition released a May 2014 report entitled Dangerous by Design. The report calls for safer street designs, better information on street conditions, walking rates, and crash data. Case studies in this report provide examples of best practices in redesigning and improving streets. To learn more about state policies to improve pedestrian safety and to access resources for transportation officials view the full report ...
Policy solutions aimed at the prevention and management of type II diabetes are often similar to those involved with obesity prevention. This report prepared by the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School provides useful information related policy for both obesity and diabetes prevention. Access the report ...
Partnership opportunities exist at all levels of collecting data including state agencies, local jurisdictions, universities, and others. Check out this report from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to learn more about collecting data effectively and improving modeling. Access the Improving Modeling and Data Collection for Active Transportation Report ...
Are children in the US getting enough physical activity? According to the 2014 National Report Card on Physical Activity---a report put together by the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance---levels of physical activity for children could be improved. Findings from the report indicated that only 13% of children nationwide used active transportation and only 8% of 12-15 year olds participated in a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity a day. According to a blog post from the Safe Routes National Partnership report cards like these can be used to inform policy makers, schools, and other stakeholders about the great need to improve the state of physical activity programming in the country. Read the Executive Summary here. View the full report ...
Chicha Limeña, a sugary drink mainly targeted at Hispanics in the Tri state area, has been ordered by the New York State Attorney General to stop making unfounded health claims. Marketers of the non-carbonated fruit drink claimed that the beverage could cure diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. "While soft drinks may market the advantages of their products, they may not make unsubstantiated claims that their products have the potential to prevent or cure serious health problems,” said state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a New York Daily News article. The Chicha Limena website now reads: “This product is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease.” According to an article in Medical Daily, one bottle of Chicha Limena accounts for two days’ ...
