School food nutrition is at risk again. The USDA, which relaxed school nutrition standards in 2018, is proposing two rule changes it says will give schools and summer programs more flexibility to meet student meal preferences and reduce food waste. But health experts warn this will roll back progress on school food nutrition. Schools could, for instance, cut breakfast fruit by a half-cup. Fries and burgers could be served a la carte. Pasta could count as a vegetable. This is a longer-term health threat than the coronavirus pandemic, according to Healthy Eating Research. "This would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, French fries, and other foods high in calories, saturated fat or sodium in place of ...
Growing up around the borders of Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, Crystal Costa was immersed in Mexican culture. She experienced good, like the red chili peppers for traditional meals. She experienced bad, like seeing how doctors didn’t explain health issues to her mother. Costa’s experience drove her keen interest in working with underserved populations and building capacity among community leaders to improve public health, especially when it comes to environmental justice and health advocacy. Today Costa is working on her master’s degree in public health at the University of Texas at El Paso. She also works with an interdisciplinary research team and provides support to pregnant and postpartum women recovering from substance use disorder and trauma. To further her ...
Taking a cue from her energetic, hard-working, El Salvadoran mother, Jaquelin Flores is determined to reduce health inequities that grip the young Latino population. For instance, as she studies for her master’s degree at California State University, Long Beach, she also works as a clinical research coordinator. She leads research projects that focus on psychosocial factors and innovative clinical care models with adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes. Flores has a strong desire to shine a light on how different cultural backgrounds influence health behaviors and manifest in different health outcomes. To further her experience and education, Flores applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The Éxito! program, led by Dr. Amelie ...
Coffee is life for Hilmaris Centeno Girona. For many families in Puerto Rico, coffee is a childhood staple, and Centeno Girona has been an avid java drinker since childhood. Now she’s brewing up a passion for solving cancer health disparities and improving health knowledge among Latinos. Currently, Centeno-Girona is a master’s degree student and a clinical research coordinator at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Puerto Rico. Her research interest includes health disparities, cancer research, and social and behavioral sciences, in areas like colorectal cancer screening and liver cancer prevention. To further her experience and education, Centeno Girona applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The Éxito! program, led ...
Corina Zamora grew up playing bingo and telling stories with her family in South Texas. Storytelling even helped in solving problems and learning Spanish, by using loteria cards to tell stories in this language. As the only Latina in a small Texas school, it was important to be able to talk about all experiences, good and bad. Zamora, currently a graduate student at the UTHealth School of Public Health campus in San Antonio, can tell many stories of how she is improving Latino health. After getting interested in public health began as an undergrad at UT Rio Grande Valley, Zamora worked with the USDA to study local agriculture and entomology. She was asked to present this research at the 72nd annual Subtropical Agriculture and Environments Society’s 72nd annual ...
Having witnessed how lack of health information harms Latinos’ quality of life, Alexis Smith wants to bridge the gap between researchers and marginalized communities. Originally from Alabama, Smith is a first-year master’s-degree student in public health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her focus is in health promotion research and practice, because she is incredibly interested in advocating for quality healthcare for all people and empowering communities through interventions that are both innovative and evidence-based. She already has served in various public health roles, from working in a community health center as a diabetes prevention coach in the Bronx, to managing social media and youth engagement for a mobile health clinic in Boston. To ...
Growing up, Sophia Rodriguez experienced a clash of Peruvian-Mexican cultures, traditional values, and food in her home. This prepared her to confront uncomfortable health and social justice issues. Now Rodriguez is pushing for Latino health as a master’s-degree student in health promotion and behavioral science at San Diego State University, where she also works as part of a research team to boost colorectal cancer screening. Rodriguez also has coordinated programs for disadvantaged pre-med and pre-health students with the University of California, Riverside. One of the programs involved health coaches stationed at Riverside County clinics that focused on lifestyle modifications for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. To further her experience ...
How important is healthy equity in schools? Amid the growing diversity among U.S. children, especially the rise of the Latino population, the future success of the nation depends on creating schools that are the healthiest─and most equitable─for all children. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, to tweet how schools can equitably improve the food, physical activity, and learning environment for all children! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: How to Boost Health Equity in Schools
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: The Children’s Health Fund (@chfund), The Healthy and Ready to Learn program of the Children’s Health Fund (@HRLNYC), Action for Healthy ...
Mexico holds a special place in Marissa Jauregui’s heart. Jauregui has taught English to students in Yucatan as a Fulbright scholar, and she grew up traveling to visit her grandparents. Now she is keeping her roots in mind as a first-year student in the Community Oriented Public Health Practice program at the University of Washington, Seattle. She already is focusing on mental health, reproductive health, health disparities, and health policy. She has strong leadership qualities and desires to conduct research and advocate for mental health services outside of the clinic. To further her experience and education, Jauregui applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The Éxito! program, led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio ...
