Thanks to a partnership between Children and Neighbors Defeat Obesity (CAN DO) Houston, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), and the Houston Independent School District (HISD), students at Briscoe Elementary School in Houston now have new opportunities for the active play they need to ensure health and prevent childhood obesity. Before the collaboration, parents identified a lack of physical activity as a primary health concern; now thanks to an after school busing program, students can attend after-school activities at a nearby park for free.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: In 2005, the 44% Latino city of Houston was named America’s fattest city by Men’s Fitness magazine, prompting the formation of the Mayor’s Wellness Council (MWC) and later the Houston Wellness Association ...
Doctors who are black, Hispanic and Asian provide the most care to minority patients, according to a study that suggests changes under Obamacare may increase the burden for these physicians, Bloomberg reports. According to the report:
More than half of minority patients and about 70 percent of non-English-speaking patients, groups more likely to have Medicaid or be uninsured, are cared for by a nonwhite doctor, according to a research letter today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
President Barack Obama’s 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the biggest overhaul of the U.S. health-care system since the 1960s, is expected to insure millions of Americans who previously couldn’t afford health coverage. Though blacks and Hispanics represent 25 percent of the U.S. population, ...
In New York City the children's museum has dreamed-up a creative way to tackle rising rates of childhood obesity. The Children’s Museum of Manhattan in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health is hoping to teach children to love fruits and vegetables through hands-on learning. The permanent exhibit features a food-based curriculum called “Eat Play Grow,” which comes with ready-made lessons in both Spanish and English on things like portion control, healthy drinks, exercising and sleeping. While similar efforts have been aimed at older school-age children, this program is devised specifically to reach kids under-5 through interactive displays, classes infused with art and music, and workshops for their parents. And the learning doesn't stop when ...
Latinos make up almost 50% of the folks living in the Boston area, many of which struggle with diet-related disease like diabetes. One medical center is hoping to make a difference in the lives of lower-income patients. Boston-area patients are receiving prescriptions for nutritious food, thanks to the Preventative Food Pantry located at the Boston Medical Center. Patients who need a little extra help buying nutritious food for themselves and their families can bring their doctor-written "prescriptions" to the pantry and swap it for fruits, veggies, and more. There is also a food demonstration kitchen where folks can learn how to cook healthy food so that it tastes great. Many other health care providers across the country are following this trend of on-site ...
Sometimes a well-meaning law has unintended consequences. In the City of Houston, it's illegal to sell alcohol within 300 feet of a church, public hospital or private school, or within 1,000 feet of a public school. This means that full-service grocery stores that may sell alcohol as well as fresh fruits and vegetables are prohibited in many neighborhoods, creating food deserts throughout the City. An ordinance introduced in December 2013 by City Councilman Stephen Costello would create an exemption for grocery stores to sell near churches and hospitals. That way, many areas that currently lack fresh food options will be able to legally have a near-by grocery store. Under the proposed ordinance, only full-size grocery stores would be allowed to sell alcohol within 300 feet of ...
Law makers in Florida are hoping to encourage full-service grocery stores to move into low-income areas by passing a law that would offer tax breaks to supermarkets offering reasonably priced, healthful food choices in food deserts. The USDA describes a food desert as when a group of low income families in an urban area live more than a mile away from healthy choices. The Florida State House and Senate have each introduced similar laws with the purpose to ensure that every community in Florida has access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Read more and watch a news video ...
Catawba county is a small county in central North Carolina where Latinos are the largest minority group. Many folks living in the county don't have access to regular nutritious food. One college student has inspired her community to take action to get better food into areas that need it. Kayla Earley, a junior at Lenoir-Rhyne University, is developing a research project to learn more about the specific needs of visitors to Catawba County soup kitchens, with the goal of using her research reduce food insecurity in Catawba County 10 percent by 2016. Earley's work has called attention to food access issues in Catawa County. Catawba County Health Partners, a nonprofit that fosters coalitions to improve health countywide, has used USDA data to identify six “food deserts” in ...
Year after year when it came time for the annual fundraiser at Withers Elementary School in Dallas, students were forced to sell unhealthy products like cookie dough. When Becky Heller became PTA president, she and other parents decided that it was time to stop unhealthy fundraisers. Heller and a team of motivated parents took a “giant leap of faith” and organized a 5K in lieu of the unhealthy products—and not only did they meet their fundraising goal, they far exceeded it.
Inactivity a growing problem Becky Heller, a parent with children at Withers Elementary—a dual-language learning school with an 82.6% Latino student population located in northwest Dallas—knew that childhood obesity and physical inactivity was a growing problem. After learning about the first ...
A new light rail metro line and its impact on physical activity will be evaluated by a group of researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). The group, lead by Dr. Harold W. Kohl III PhD, a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology will embark on a five-year investigation to examine physical activity behavior as well as direct measurements of physical activity, using accelerometers. According to the UT School of Public Health, Dr. Kohl and his team of researchers will study activity levels of residents who live within half a mile of the new light rail system. The team says that most of the residents who live near the new north bound metro red line run consist of large minority ...
