Attaining an education is one of the key social determinants of health. For many Latinos, getting an education beyond high school prevents them from obtaining a higher quality of life. While more and more Latinos are enrolling in two- and four-year universities, the gap in achievement is still vast between them and their white peers. Excelencia in Education, a non-profit organization founded to accelerate higher education access for Latino students, was recently announced as the recipient of a $1.5 million in grants from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation and Lumina Foundation to “expand strategies that accelerate Latino student success in higher education.” “This important collaboration highlights Lumina’s continued commitment to accelerate Latino student ...
How can a little pinwheel fan help kids with emotional balance and mental clarity? Coming together to support mental health awareness month, Sixpence Program and the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library are supporting children's mental health with toys like foam building blocks, mental health books, and pinwheels. These toys can help provide continued learning for kids with mental health issues, helping them in calm-down techniques, like the pinwheels which help kids learn a deep breathing technique. Kids can "smell" the flower when they put the pinwheel close to their face, and then blow out stress or exhale onto the pinwheel and see the pinwheel move into action. “As adults, we can teach children how to respond when they are upset,” Tiffany Fuller, the Sixpence Program ...
"MOST", Maryland Out of School Time Network's (MOST) Healthy Behaviors Initiative (HBI) has worked to help promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards since 2013. Today MOST uses VISTA volunteers as afterschool professionals to support 30 programs across the state today. The programs' work is guided by the Alliance's Healthy Out of School Time Framework and with funding from the Giant Food Foundation, staff are able to receive professional development training in nutrition from the University of Maryland Extension's Food Supplement Nutrition Education program. MOST collaborates with HBI partners like Landsdowne Middle School in Baltimore, who signed onto HBI in its first year and have come to reach specific fitness goals and now participate in a range of new ...
Congrats to San Francisco's new ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors ensuring all kids menus will not longer include sugar-sweetened beverages. This is a win for Latino kids, why?
Regular consumers of sugary beverages have a 26 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and research shows that about 74% of Latino kids have had a sugary drink by age 2.
Parents are still allowed to purchase a sugary beverage with their child's meal in this new policy change, Supervisor Ken Yeager explained to Bay City News Service. However, Yeager went on to ask, "Why in the world you put something that is so poisonous on their plate?"
In fact, studies say that 71% percent of California’s children will experience tooth decay by third grade, resulting in 900,000 missed school days per ...
Physical activity is linked with academic achievement and improved mental and physical health. Sadly, many Latino majority schools do not provide recommended time for recess or quality PE, thus kids fall behind and are at higher risk for chronic disease. On April 20th, 2017, the Governor of Washington (12.4% Latino) signed a new bill (HB 1235) which assesses PE practices in public schools. Effective July, 23, 2017, the bill requires all schools to conduct an annual review of their PE programs, to include: number of students completing PE per year
number of minutes per week of PE
number of students granted waivers from PE requirements
instructors with valid health and fitness endorsements The results of the review will be shared with the school district's ...
There is an undeniable link between education and health. In fact, educational attainment is one of the key social determinants of health. Lack of access and opportunity are often some of the barriers that keep many Latinos from furthering their education beyond high school. However, the numbers from several studies have pointed to the fact that Latinos are making some headway into earning more degrees from two- and four-year universities. One study from Excelencia in Education correlates the rise in Latino enrollment with the growing number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in the U.S. HSIs are defined by federal law as “accredited and degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education” that have 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic ...
Are you interested in changing people's health outcomes through programs, policy changes, and infrastructure improvements? Check out the inaugural Active Living Summit hosted by Movement Makers in Richmond, VA, May 17-19, 2017. We will be there to learn and present! Hear stories about policies changed, advocacy wins, innovative school initiatives, and more. Discover how to build play in urban environments on a playability walk. Learn more about setting expectations with the funding community and creating better tools online to support physical activity in your city. Key note speakers include: Gabe Klein, Co-founder of CityFi and former Commissioner of Chicago and Washington D.C. Departments of Transportation.
Dominique Dawes, Olympic Gold Medalist, and former Co-chair ...
Water Wellness Alert!!! Did you know that between 50-75% of your body is made of water? Drinking enough water to keep your body hydrated is an important part of staying healthy for kids and adults. One of the simplest ways that we can make sure that kids are drinking adequate water (and skipping the sugar-sweetened beverages!) is to include access to drinking water in school wellness policies. Including water in your policy helps to keep it top of mind for school staff and ensures that water won’t become less of a priority if the administration changes. Now is a great time for schools to update their wellness policies. All schools participating in federal nutrition programs must update their policies to comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final rule by June 30, ...
Many factors influence early childhood development, school readiness, and health. For example, Latino parents are less likely to engage their children in preliteracy activities or read books to them leading to cognitive and oral communication gaps in Latino children. Culturally relevant parent counseling, education and support can play a huge role in childhood literacy and health, because kids who do better in school become healthier adults. Three groups in Walla Walla, Washington (21.6% Latino) worked together to create a 10-week series of FREE parenting master classes, Abriendo Puertas-Spanish for Opening Doors-that use a Latino cultural perspective and are taught in Spanish. The three groups are, Walla Walla Valley Early Learning Coalition, the Walla Walla Community College ...
