According to this news article UnitedHealthcare has teamed up with Konami, the producer of DanceDanceRevolution (DDR), to bring a new version of the game, called the DDR Classroom Edition, to schools. Some suggest that minority children, such as Latinos, living in inner-city neighborhoods may benefit the most from this game. According to this news article, researchers from George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C., are finding that active video games may provide a new avenue for kids to participate in physical activity. Already many schools have begun to use interactive video games as part of their curriculum. According to to this news article, researchers from the University of Montreal say that exergaming--playing video games that ...
In 2011, San Antonio started Siclovia--an event that closes off a busy road to street traffic, in order to open it up to cyclists, skaters, and pedestrians. The free event was a huge success and has served as a way to promote fitness, and awareness of the obesity problem in San Antonio. Since 2011, Siclovia has become a yearly tradition in San Antonio and the number of people who attend the event has continued to grow. According to this article from Bike Texas, in 2012, the event drew close to 40,000 participants. The response has been so overwhelming that two events were planned during 2013. Now the YMCA has taken charge of organizing San Antonio's yearly Siclovia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XteTXq5zxA The idea for Siclovia comes from the original closed streets ...
Councilman Cris Medina of San Antonio has proposed that the city take measures to make streets safer for pedestrians by (1) re-examining the speed hump approval process; (2) reducing the speed limit; and (3) creating reduced speed zones near parks, daycare centers, and senior centers. Resources Read the January 30, 2013 Safe Streets Council Consideration ...
Michael Krings of Healthy Hastings and others have created a "Share our Streets" campaign to promote awareness of the need for bikers, motorists, and pedestrians to all share the road. Walking and biking are two key ways to get children physically active. However, the lack of safe streets often keep parents from letting their children walk or bike to school. In 2012, the state of Nebraska adopted a Safe Passing law which requires motorists to leave at least 3 feet of clearance for cyclists, pedestrians, or those using a personal mobility device. More recently, in 2013 a Compete Streets Policy was presented to the Hastings city council for review. Read more in this news article from theindependent.com: "Making the roads safe for bikers, ...
Through a grant from the Let's Move! Salad to Schools program, salad bars are being implemented into schools in Cordova, Alaska. These salad bars have a variety of fruits and vegetables, mostly raw, that the students love choosing from. Foods like raw spinach, cut up cauliflower, slide cucumbers, corn, peaches, orange slices, and many other items are featured in the salad bar, depending on what seasonal produce they can purchase. The students are responding well because they prefer being able to make their own choices on which fruits or vegetables to eat, which results in less food waste for the school and more healthy foods are actually eaten by students. The success of salad bars, like this one, are dependent on the foods being cut up, fresh, and easy for kids to see. This all ensures ...
In January of 2013, Salud al Pasito was formed by University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) students wanting to emphasize the low cost, easy-to-do, family friendly, activity of walking to the Latino community. One month later, on February 16, 2013, the group held their first walking event. Every month the group organizes a walking event and invites a guest speaker from the medical community to discuss the many health benefits that can be derived from walking. Check out the Salud al Pasito Facebook page to see when the next event will take ...
Saludable Omaha, a Latino Health Movement created by youth activists, began to see the affects that obesity was having within South High School. In the 2011-2012 school year student leaders from the Saludable Omaha Movement decided to address the issue of the lack of nutrition knowledge that affected student’s ability to make healthy choices at lunchtime. In order to educate students about foods being served, Saludable Omaha students began a Green is Go marketing campaign. This campaign highlights the healthy foods, while also drawing attention to foods that have less nutritional value, that can be found in their cafeteria. Saludable Omaha students brought in a nutritionist to assist them in finding accurate facts and information about the food being served in the school cafeteria. ...
The San Antonio Bike Plan was adopted as part of the City’s master plan in the fall of 2011. The plan has already influenced and contributed to other initiatives such as the Complete Streets Ordinance (2011), SA 2020, the Downtown Transportation Study, and the 2012-2017 $596 Million Bond Program, passed by voters in May of 2012. The San Antonio Bike Plan has also been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects for the Texas Chapter Merit. Resources Maps of San Antonio's existing bike infrastructure. View the full City of San Antonio Bike Plan and additional resources. The San Antonio Bikes GIS Mapping ...
In May 2013, the Houston city council approved a Safe Passing Ordinance, which aims to make streets safe for vulnerable road users (pedestrians, runners, physically disabled person, stranded motorist, highway construction workers, maintenance workers, tow truck operator, cyclists, etc.) The ordinance requires ordinary vehicles to remain at least three feet away and commercial trucks to remain six feet away from vulnerable road users. Learn more about the ordinance from this Houston Chronicle news ...
