Study: Latino Youth Perceive Their Weight Problems; Parents, Grandparents Don’t



Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 3 is Dr. Cristina Barroso. Find all briefs here. Dr. Cristina Barroso “Body Image and Childhood Obesity in Mexican-Americans” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Cristina Barroso of The University of Texas School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus, examined body image perceptions across three generations of low-income Latinos in South Texas, and studied the association between body image and physical activity in the same population. For the study, families viewed sketches of body shapes and body sizes and to select images they perceive as healthy, as well as the image ...

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Study: Menu Labeling Can Increase Health in Latino-Serving Restaurants



Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 2 is Dr. Carmen Nevarez. Find all briefs here. Dr. Carmen Nevarez “Salud Tiene Sabor: Creating Healthy Eating Environments for Latino Families” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Carmen Nevarez of the Public Health Institute evaluated the Salud Tiene Sabor program. Sabor, the first program of its kind in California, supports healthy food choices in restaurants by providing access to healthy menu items and nutrition information, including calories posted on menu boards. Seven independent restaurants have implemented the Sabor program at Mercado La Paloma, a community marketplace ...

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Study: ‘Fit for the Lord’—How Churches Can Join Battle against Obesity



Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 1 is Dr. Meizi He. Find all briefs here. Dr. Meizi He "Latino Faith-Based Communities’ Perspective on Childhood Obesity" In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Meizi He of the University of Texas at San Antonio conducted interviews and focus groups among church leaders and congregations to gather their insights on childhood obesity. Key preliminary findings include: Latino church leaders and members perceived a link between faith and health; obesity-prevention efforts should be culturally sensitive; and there are perceived financial, environmental, cultural and lifestyle ...

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Viewpoint: The Growing Obesity Epidemic among Latino Youth



SaludToday Guest Blogger: Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez Obesity causes more than 15 percent of this country’s preventable deaths—more than alcohol, toxins, care accidents, gun-related deaths, drug abuse and STDs combined—and it causes a huge financial strain on the health care system. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity affects approximately 34 percent of adults and 17 percent of children in the U.S. The agency recently estimated the costs of obesity at almost $150 billion per year. The obesity statistics for young Latinos are particularly frightening. Mexican-American children ages 2 to 19 are more likely to be obese or overweight (40.8 percent) than white (31.9 percent) and African-American (30 percent) children. Among preschoolers, nearly ...

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VIDEO: Quality P.E. as a Solution to Child Obesity



The childhood obesity epidemic in America is a major problem. Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled; and nearly one third of children in America are now overweight or obese. This video from SPARK San Diego focuses on one of the solutions—getting kids moving in school—and explains why quality physical education (P.E.) can play such an important role in ending this ...

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Dr. Amelie Ramirez Named to Influential Board of Directors


Amelie Ramirez

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind Salud America!, has been elected to the board of directors for C-Change, a national organization that aims to leverage the expertise of leaders from government, business and nonprofit sectors of society to eliminate cancer as a major health problem as soon as possible. Founded in 1998, C-Change’s approaches cancer as a societal burden that everyone bears the responsibility for addressing. C-Change’s 150 members identify opportunities for collective action and apply the group’s unique strength—the collective expertise and resources of leaders from the three sectors of society—to accelerate action to end ...

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U.S. Cancer Rates Keep Falling; Biggest Decline Among Hispanic, Black Men



A new report from the American Cancer Society indicates that cancer death rates are continuing to fall, dropping by 1.8% per year in men and 1.6% per year in women between 2004 and 2008, thanks to advances in cancer screening and treatment, Reuters reports. While the rate of decline is small, experts say, it is significant because it has continued to fall each year in the past 10. Cancer death rates among Hispanic men (2.3%) and black men (2.4%) had the biggest declines. But the news is not all good. According to the Reuters report: Despite improvements in the most common cancers, a companion report found an increase in cases of several cancers over the past decade, Reuters. These included cancers of the pancreas, liver, thyroid, and kidney and melanoma, as well as esophageal cancer ...

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VIDEO: Latinos, Others Honored for Overcoming Obstacles to Tackle Community Health Problems



Watch this new video that tells the heartwarming stories of the 10 men and women who were recently honored as Community Health Leaders by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for overcoming daunting odds to improve the health and quality of life for those in disadvantaged or underserved communities across the country. Two Latinos are among the awardees. At the video's 6:32 mark, listen to how Latino father Richard Nares was recognized for developing a successful model to support and transport low-income families with children battling cancer to medical visits. Or read more about him here. At the video's 7:23 mark, listen to how Dr. Gabriel Rincón was recognized for launching Mixteca Organization, Inc., which provides health and education programs to thousands of Latino New Yorkers ...

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Study: Latino Parents Willing to Make Lifestyle Changes to Help Overweight Kids



Parents of overweight Latino children are willing to make tortillas with vegetable oil instead of lard and to make other healthy food and lifestyle choices to get their kids fit, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas has found. The focus group findings, which appear online in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, provide important starting points for fighting the epidemic of childhood obesity in Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in Texas and nationally. “Almost half of all Latino kids are either overweight or obese,” said Dr. Glenn Flores, senior author of the study, in a news release. “It’s an important issue in terms of our future generations. If we intervene early enough, we won’t have obese ...

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