Salud America! Gets $1.3M to Fuel Healthy Changes that Reduce Latino Childhood Obesity


Salud America Logo

Salud America!, a national childhood obesity prevention and communication program, has received a one-year, $1.3 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop new, tailored educational content that helps people to work toward healthy changes for children and families. Established in 2007, Salud America!, has recruited a national online network of 50,000 parents, school personnel, health professionals, and community leaders who support its mission. Childhood obesity continues to rise in America. The new funding will allow Salud America! to expand its network and engage members with enhanced educational content, including multimedia role model stories, social media events (like the #SaludTues weekly tweetchat), online resources, digital action campaigns, and ...

Read More

Dia de Salud Increases Health in Oregon Community


Dia de Salud

Sarah Cantril started the Huerto de la Familia program to focus on boosting health by helping local families live healthier lives in Eugene, Ore. In trying a new approach to bring health information to families, Julia Ridgeway-Diaz and other officials with Huerto de la Familia decided to start an annual health fair, called Dia de Salud (Health Day). This free, tailored annual health fair brings families together to receive free eye exams, blood tests, and other health services that would normally be unavailable to their community. What Role Do People Play in Their Health?  Huerto de la Familia has been assisting families in Eugene, Ore. (7.8% Latino), since 1999, when Sarah Cantril formed the organization from a grassroots project, to a fully developed non-profit. But Julia ...

Read More

La pobreza extrema afecta 1 de 4 latinos en EEUU


kid sitting poverty low income health

Al rededor del 26 por ciento de los latinos y el 24 por ciento de afro-americanos viven en “pobreza extrema,” el cual significa que tienen dificultades en poder pagar por necesidades básicas, aun así con ayuda de programas gubernamentales, de acuerdo a un nuevo estudio. El reporte del US Department of Health and Human Services , HHS por sus siglas en inglés, define pobreza extrema al nivel de la mitad del nivel de pobreza federal—menos de $6,000 para un adulto o $7,600 para un adulto con dependientes. Según el reporte: Una familia en pobreza extrema gasta $3,000-$6,000 más en necesidades que sus ingresos permiten. Individuos en pobreza extrema tienden a estar menos saludables que aquellos con ingresos mayores por lo cual requieren de mayor atención ...

Read More

Rebecca (Adeigbe) Jones: Pushing the Public Health Envelope


Dr. Rebecca (Adeigbe) Jones

Rebecca (Adeigbe) Jones grew up in South Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley, a mostly Latino area that often lacks basic infrastructure—like streets and running water—and also is short on doctors and public health services. Jones now works to improve health in this region and beyond. Jones, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, empowers people to take control of their health, and emboldens others to focus on health research and changes. “I’ve been increasingly attuned to high poverty and disease rates—and I enjoy working hard to make a real difference in improving health and quality of life,” Jones said. Jones got her big break into public health in 2010. As an intern for Míranos!, an obesity prevention ...

Read More

Tweet with Us 11/4/14: How to Solve the Doctor/Nurse Shortage


doctor nurse shortage

The shortage of doctors and nurses who reflect the makeup of the US population makes it harder to build strong doctor-patient relationships, deliver preventive care, and focus on health conditions. Let’s focus on what we can do to solve the problem by using #SaludTues to tweet about innovative programs, campaigns and other resources to increase the number of health professionals: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Solving the Doctor/Nurse Shortage” DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 TIME: Noon CT (1:00 PM ET) WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: @NHMAmd Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter/X and share your stories and resources. #SaludTues is a Tweetchat on Twitter/X that focuses on a variety ...

Read More

Rose A. Treviño-Whitaker: A Tough Upbringing Helps Her Focus on Improving Health, Fitness


Rose Trevino-Whitaker

Unpaved roads. Lack of proper sewage. Inadequate water. Rose A. Treviño-Whitaker grew up among these third-world conditions that plague some colonias—mostly unincorporated settlements in South Texas. That’s why she is dedicating her career to preventing disease and promoting public health as a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. She’s particularly interested in increasing physical activity. “Regardless of the neighborhood conditions I grew up in, I still led an active lifestyle. My sisters and I still went outside and had a great time playing soccer in the streets with the other neighborhood kids,” Treviño said. “It is hard to see that this is not the case anymore, in my old neighborhood and all over the U.S. ...

Read More