In San Antonio, half of adults do not meet national physical activity recommendations. But there's good news. Attending Síclovía—an event that shuts down a major road for several hours to provide a safe, open space for families to "play in the street"—opens the door to a healthier future for families, according to a new study. More than half of Síclovía attendees say they improved their physical activity behaviors after attending the event, says preliminary study data presented at a press conference on Sept. 24, 2013 by representatives of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio and the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. The study results show: 53% of respondents reported they changed their physical activity level after attending a ...
Nutrition labels on the foods we eat are the best way to learn exactly what's in our favorite snacks. Some labels, however, can be confusing, unclear, and even misleading. A handful of elected officials in Washington, DC want to change that. In September 2013, the “Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2013,” was introduced. According to the press release, the Food Labeling Modernization Act looks at food labeling reform in a comprehensive manner, addressing front-of-package labeling, misleading health claims, and requiring updates to the Nutrition Facts Panel and the ingredient list. When consumers are able to have all the information presented in an easy-to-read manor, they can make a better informed decision about what they eat. Read more about the act ...
Lawmakers in Texas have approved a new law that gives folks the option of using properties in land banks to improve the health of their community. In Texas, before the act was passed, land in the land bank could only be used for housing. Now, the city can allow people to use this land to build grocery stores in areas that desperately need better access to fresh, healthy foods. An active community member in Dallas, Texas wants his community to be aware of the new legislation that could potentially help their south Dallas neighborhood. Can your community take advantage of Texas's new ...
Check out this new video by NBC Latino's Dr. Joseph Sirven, who describes the Latino childhood obesity epidemic and ways families can reverse it through physical activity and healthier food. Sirven is professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology and was past director of education for Mayo Clinic ...
The Allen County community met in September to talk about ways to tackle health issues facing the county's kids. Making corner stores healthier and removing unhealthy snacks from schools are a few ways strategies the community has tried so far. Activate Allen County, a health collaborate striving to make healthy changes in the community, has been at forefront of raising the public's awareness about childhood obesity as well as strategies to fight it. One way the collaborative is trying to bringer better food options into neighborhoods that lack them is through a mobile produce bus. At the September community meeting, folks got a chance to check out the new ride, set to launch on October 1st. The bus, a project of Active Allen County and the West Ohio Food Bank, will bring ...
Much of Florence, AZ is considered a food desert, lacking easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Latinos make up the largest minority group in Florence and feel the realities of having to drive over ten miles one way just to buy fruits and vegetables. Elizabeth Kizer, a public health doctoral student at the University of Arizona, has been researching the food environment in Florence, hoping to find trends and get the community involved in proposing and implementing solutions to get healthier food into the community. She met with interested members in the community to share her findings and brainstorm possible solutions. Kizer found, among other things, that Florence lacked enough local food production to have a farmers' market, restaurants offered poor to no healthy ...
Want to hang out with former Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, Let’s Move Executive Director Sam Kass, and Salud America! Director Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez? Washington Post Live will host a Childhood Obesity Summit on Sept. 20, 2013, featuring these and other exciting leaders in the movement who will offer fresh perspectives on strategies for reversing the epidemic and recent signs of progress. There are a few ways you can take part: Apply here to attend in person in Washington, D.C.
Watch a livestream of the event.
Converse on Twitter using the hashtag #childhoodobesity. Other scheduled speakers include Regina Benjamin, the 18th Surgeon General of the United States; Yael Lehmann, executive director of The Food Trust; Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert ...
A recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that found that both parents and physicians in the Latino migrant farm-worker community of Immokalee, Fla., were not as concerned with their children being overweight as they were children who were obese. The study suggested the need for programs that facilitate Latino parents' interest and action to improve their children's health. Who is rising to meet the need? The author of the study, Dr. Javier Rosado. Rosado—who conducted the research as grantee of Salud America!, a Latino childhood obesity research network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio—has galvanized a team of medical ...
Well House provides temporary housing to the homeless in South East Grand Rapids, Michigan. But they do more than just offer a bed to those in need. They also have a handful of community gardens, including one they recently started on reclaimed land from the local land bank. Residents can work in the garden and grow healthy food they can eat themselves. Well House also sells some of their fruits and vegetables at a weekly market behind their main property, Wednesdays from 4PM-7PM. Check out their Facebook for more ways you can get ...
