On May, 20, 2016, after 35 years of negotiations, the National Park Service the San Antonio Food Bank finalized a land use agreement allowing the Food Bank and its volunteers to grow crops on 45 acres of farmland at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Five acres of land will be used used for demonstrations of the 1730's Spanish colonial acequia system-an acequia is a type of ditch used to irrigate crops-and forty acres will be farmed and managed by the Food Bank. "In the 1700s, the fields were maintained by indigenous mission inhabitants and irrigated with acequias, carefully engineered irrigation ditches that were hand-dug to carry water from the San Antonio River to the farmland," Park superintendent Mardi Arce said, according to one source. Los Compadres, the official nonprofit ...
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Sylvia M. Burwell, announced over $260 million in funding awarded to 290 health centers in 45 states across the country. The funds will be used for renovation, construction, or expansion. “Health centers are cornerstones of the communities they serve,” said Secretary Burwell. “[These] awards will empower health centers to build more capacity and provide needed health care to hundreds of thousands of additional individuals and their families.” The goal is for health centers to utilize these funds to increase their patient capacity and provide additional comprehensive primary and preventive health services “to medically underserved populations.” The new and/or renovated centers are expected to ...
Data from the League of American Bicyclists shows that 40% of all trips in the U.S. are less than two miles and the number of bicycle commuters has increased tremendously over the last 16 years—especially among Latinos who have the second highest bicycle commuting rate. Peddling to work is not only good for the environment, but it’s also good for the heart and can significantly cut the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes—a condition that affects millions of Latinos. According to doctors the health benefits of bike riding also include: • Increased cardiovascular fitness
• Increased muscle strength and flexibility
• Improved joint mobility
• Decreased stress levels
• Improved posture and coordination
• Strengthened bones
• Decreased body fat ...
It's that time of year again! Summer is nearly hear and we're excited to share this wonderful opportunity for San Antonio youth to get involved in the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) Camp Power Up! This year's 2016 Camp Power Up will take place June 6-10 at San Antonio's Westside YMCA! Camp Power Up! is a FREE healthy lifestyle/diabetes prevention program (est. value $700) open to students ages 10-14 yrs, with a physician's referral. During the week long event, 50 campers and their families will get to enjoy: health/nutrition education;
indoor and outdoor fun activities;
field trips;
parent health education sessions; and
a family celebration night Lunch and snacks will be provided, as well as health information and prizes. If you know of a physician who ...
SaludToday Guest Blogger
Jefferson Dental Clinics Latinas and other women are highly susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease. One big reason is that Latinas are more likely than their peers to skip routine dental care due to cost, according to a study. Untreated dental issues can produce significant pain and tooth loss. Biological factors also play a role. Women are vulnerable to oral health issues during periods of hormonal fluctuation: puberty, with the use of birth control pills, and pregnancy and menopause. Thus, hormones are a major cause of gum disease, which is characterized by chronically irritated and inflamed gums and can lead to gum recession and eventual tooth loss. Bleeding and swollen gums, first signs of gum disease, are a common complaint in pregnant women ...
The Urban Institute's mission is to open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions through economic and social policy research. Health is high on the list, not only because of the ever-increasing healthcare costs and societal costs related to American's poor health-obesity, heart disease, diabetes-but health is influenced by numerous aspects of our lives, not just what happens in the doctors office. In the Urban Institute paints the picture of health in America in their The Picture of Health: At Home, at Work, at Every Age, in Every Community series, which was funded with support from the Lawrence & Rebecca Stern Family foundation, Inc. The Picture of Health project weaves research into storytelling, looking at numerous aspects of our lives that influence health. The ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health has recently released data detailing the quality of care received by people with Medicare Advantage by racial or ethnic groups. Based on the analysis from two sources, researchers analyzed how well the needs of Medicare beneficiaries are met for a variety of medical issues, several of which are disproportionately felt by the Latino population such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease. “This is the first time that CMS has released Medicare Advantage data stratified by race and ethnicity. Increasing understanding and awareness of disparities and their causes is the first step of our path to equity,” said Dr. Cara James, director of the CMS Office of Minority Health. ...
What's a good way to make sure students eat the new healthy foods schools are trying to implement across the nation? Taste Tests! A school district in South Carolina, Laurens 56 school district, has worked with kids, offering taste tests to try the new healthy school food swaps, before putting them on the school menu. Now new favorites in the lunchroom include collards and broccoli! All items are taste-tested, and given feedback from kids before approved, to make sure students enjoy new items like the chicken fajita wraps. Cindy Jacobs, the Child Nutrition Director for the district, worked from the very beginning making sure teachers and students saw the importance of the new nutrition standards, and asked students to get creative by making their own lunch menus under the ...
New research suggests that having a busy schedule may help your cognitive function, Medical Daily reports. For the study, researchers observed 330 men and women between the ages of 50 to 89 and found that those individuals with busy lives “tend to fare better on cognitive functions tests than their less busy peers.” "Living a busy lifestyle appears beneficial for mental function. However, further studies are needed to determine whether manipulations of busyness have the same effect,” said Sara Festini, lead author of the study. Other studies have demonstrated that an active lifestyle combined with daily exercise can also improve cognition and slow down brain ...
