Taking a walk or hike can be a great way to get outside and get in some physical activity. But what if your community doesn’t have access to hiking trails? The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) created a resource that identifies hiking and walking programs that encourage youth from underserved communities to get outside and hit the trails. The program brief looks specifically at Latino and Black youth, because they are more likely to experience health disparities related to lack of physical activity and are at risk for health complications later in life.
What’s in the Program Brief?
NCCOR identifies nine programs that successfully reach diverse groups and produce positive health outcomes. The programs meet the following criteria: highlighted on ...
To reduce the impact of a disease like diabetes, public health leaders usually apply a three-part preventive approach of prevention, early detection, and early intervention. But this preventive approach hasn’t been applied to toxic stress. Toxic stress is the body’s response to prolonged trauma─like abuse or discrimination─with no support. It can harm lifelong mental, physical, and behavioral health, especially for Latinos and others of color. Amid COVID-19, civil unrest, and an economic crisis, we need a public health prevention approach to address toxic stress now more than ever. A new roadmap can help. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health proposes a ...
Are you making a New Year's resolution for 2021? It might be spending more time outside. It might be quitting smoking. Or you could be trying to eat healthier. What we eat and drink affects our body’s ability to prevent, fight, and recover from infections, like COVID-19. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2020, to tweet about how we can keep our New Year's goals of eating healthier, getting more physical activity inside and outside, and quitting smoking! WHAT: #SaludTues: How to Start 2021 with a Healthier Lifestyle!
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: @UsA2_Latinos, @VocesenSalud, @SAresearch, @Wellmedgives, @PublicHealthMap, @MotherToBaby, @Ashorg
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“Ever wondered why your neighborhood looks how it does?” Jennifer Rangel once asked herself this question. To find an answer, Rangel got a master’s degree in urban planning. Along the way, this Latina planner learned that discriminatory urban planning practices, like the zoning of land, had been used for white advantage for over a century, segregating communities and forging inequities in health and wealth among Latinos and other people of color. Rangel wanted to share what she learned. So she helped create workshops─then bilingual animated videos─to train neighborhood leaders, social workers, and others about zoning and how to get involved in zoning changes. “Understanding zoning is a critical step for residents as they try to undo previous harms and to ...
Since James Rojas was child, he has been fascinated with urban spaces like streets, sidewalks, plazas, storefronts, yards, and porches. He started noticing how spaces made it easier or harder for families, neighbors, and strangers to interact. For example, his urban space experience got worse when his Latino family was uprooted from their home and expected to conform to how white city planners designed neighborhood streets for cars rather than for social connection. “[Latinos] are a humble, prideful, and creative people that express our memories, needs, and aspirations for working with our hands and not through language,” Rojas said. “However, there are no planning tools that measure this relationship between the body and space. Therefore, our mobility needs can be ...
The status quo for health in America is expensive and failing. Medical care is costly for individuals, communities, businesses, and employers. But the U.S. ranks only 27th in life expectancy out of 35 Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It also has the highest prevalence of obesity, with even worse rates among Americans of color. That’s why one of Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams’ priorities is to highlight and reverse inadequate investments in disease prevention and inequitable economic opportunities in our communities. Last year, Adams launched the “Community Health and Economic Prosperity” or “CHEP” initiative. “CHEP is the concept that community health and economic prosperity are inextricably linked,” according to the ...
Amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic and one of the hottest summers in world history, public parks are a refuge. But not all parks are created equitably. Parks that serve primarily Latinos and others of color are half the size of parks that serve majority White populations. They are also five times more crowded, with hotter temperatures, according to a new study from The Trust for Public Land. "As cities struggle with extreme heat this summer, parks are one of the best ways for residents to find relief," said Diane Regas, leader of The Trust for Public Land. "We all need and deserve parks—and all of the benefits they provide—all of the time. But during this period of compounded public health emergencies, unequal access to quality parks can be downright dangerous."
What Did the ...
A culture of health is where everyone has a fair, just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This also achieves health equity. Is your community creating a culture of health? If so, apply for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize! The contest provides $25,000 to communities that unite neighborhood, school, and business partners to improve health for all residents. Apply by Oct.15, 2020.
Read about 2019 Winners
Three largely Latino cities won three of five 2019 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prizes! Gonzales, Calif. (94% Latino), was chosen from nearly 200 applicants. Two other cities with large Latino populations—Lake County, Colo. (36% Latino) and Broward County, Fla. (30% Latino)—also won the health prize. ...
Walking and biking are critical transportation options for physical and mental health. More importantly, they are essential to get to destinations, particularly Latinos during the coronavirus pandemic — including those who are simultaneously less likely to work from home than their white peers and more likely to be impacted by job loss. When the pandemic began, the portion of auto loan accounts in financial hardship jumped from 0.64% in March to 3.54% in April, according to TransUnion. Financial hardship status is defined by factors incliuding: A deferred payment or frozen past-due payment because a person is unable to keep up with payments due to a change in financial circumstances, such as loss of a job
Significant cut in hours or pay
Medical illness To recover and ...
