Here are a few new resources to help in the fight against childhood obesity: ‘Let's Move! Cities and Towns’ Toolkit
Let's Move! Cities and Towns: Toolkit for Local Officials, part of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Initiative, aims to engage local leaders in efforts to fight childhood obesity. Report: ‘Why Place and Race Matter’
PolicyLink, a national research institute, released the Why Place and Race Matter report, which makes the case that addressing long-term racial inequities is critical to crafting effective strategies to build healthy, vibrant communities. CDC Food Environment Guide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new guide to help states and localities develop, adopt, implement, and evaluate a food procurement ...
Dr. Elsie M. Taveras, member of the advisory committee of Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, addresses Latino childhood obesity in an article in the journal Childhood Obesity. Dr. Taveras mentions her research group at Harvard Medical School and their so-called “life course approach to obesity,” which has identified important factors for and disparities in obesity starting in pregnancy and through infancy, early childhood and adolescence. "Latino children are also much less likely to be breast fed, and we know from some some studies that breastfeeding may be protective of overweight," Dr. Taveras said in the article. "Additionally, Latino children are more likely to be introduced to solids early, they are more likely to drink ...
A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and The Food Trust examines marketing strategies that may help parents, caregivers and youths select and purchase healthier foods and beverages at the grocery store. The report, Harnessing the Power of Supermarkets to Help Reverse Childhood Obesity, includes case studies and recommendations about marketing tactics, such as in-store promotions, placement and pricing, that can encourage healthy eating, increase customer satisfaction and help food retailers increase profitability. The report provides highlights from a meeting co-hosted by RWJF and The Food Trust in June 2010. More than 60 public health leaders, food retailers, food manufacturers, consumer product designers and marketers met in Philadelphia to address the vital ...
The latest guidelines and info for cancer screening, treatment and prevention are right there when you need them in the form of three new apps for the iPhone and/or iPad. "HPVsearch" allows users to look up facts, vaccines and patient FAQs. With "CanSearch," find the recommended screening guidelines for the top 25 cancers, including their risk factors, nutrition and chemoprevention stats, and imaging tests. With "CanQuit," refer to guidelines, info, and resources to help patients quit smoking. These free apps, from the Texas Medical Association's Physician Oncology Education Program, are available here from your iPhone or ...
By raising his voice and inspiring his peers to live healthier lives, 13-year-old Jacob Vasquez of San Antonio, Texas, is leading the fight against childhood obesity. On April 16, 2011, Jacob, one of 25 youths selected to serve on the Youth Advisory Board for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, will partner with the Health Collaborative’s Fun Family Community Garden Event to encourage kids to take a more active role in their health. At the event, students will be able to partake in a program, GROW (Growing Real Organic Winners), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Health Collaborative (1002 N. Flores Street) to examine the relationship between gardening and a healthy lifestyle. The first 25 students will get a gardening kit and will be encouraged to start a garden at home, ...
The new Buena Salud book series presents the latest Latino health information and medical advances about individual diseases and conditions in a warm and conversational tone. Written by Dr. Jane L. Delgado, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the series sprinkles real-life stories throughout and are published simultaneously in English and Spanish to inform, support, and deliver advice that will guide a Latino readership towards better care of their health. The series launches with books on the top two health concerns for U.S. Latinos: heart disease and diabetes. Watch a WKYC-TV news report on the book series here or ...
A mentorship program opening in June at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio encourages Latinos to pursue careers studying how cancer/disease affects minorities differently. April 13, 2011, is the extended application deadline for Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training. The ideal candidate is a Hispanic or Latino master’s degree-level student or a master’s degree-trained health professional, but all ethnicities are welcome to apply. Go here for more info or to apply. Éxito! consists of: A 5-day Summer Institute in June 2011 that offers teaching, tools and resources
Paid Internships (Starting in 2012)
Doctoral Biannual Retreats (Starting in 2014) The hope is that Èxito! participants will go on to earn doctoral degrees and conduct ...
A new set of reports released this week rank the health of more than 3,000 U.S. counties and show that much of what affects health occurs outside of the doctor’s office. The County Health Rankings, in their second year and led by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), confirm the critical role that factors such as education, jobs, income, and environment play in how healthy people are and how long they live. See this map to find your county. Some highlights of what counties look like nationally: People are nearly twice as likely to be in fair or poor health in the unhealthiest counties;
Unhealthy counties have significantly lower high school graduation rates;
Unhealthy counties have more than twice as ...
Nearly half of Hispanic women in a new study who spoke little English expressed much worry about their beast cancers returning, and white and black women expressed far less concern, WedMD reports. Many survivors worry about recurrence, possibly due to communication difficulties, even though the odds of survival for a woman treated for early-stage breast cancer are good. Worry can affect decisions about treatment, screening, symptom reporting and overall quality of life. “Women who had a very optimistic prognosis, based on their cancer stage and node involvement, were often the ones who worried the most,” study leader Dr. Nancy K. Janz, of the University of Michigan, told WebMD. The study is published in the April 1 issue of the journal ...
