Nicolas Rivard and Allison Hu, urban designers in San Antonio and members of Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association, learned about an upcoming street construction project that lacks walkable streetscape elements in their largely Latino neighborhood, and decided to act. The urban designers mobilized and empowered community members to get involved and request walkable streetscape elements, and the city responded by adding street trees, separated sidewalks, and landscaping. Today, through their recent project, Place Changing, the designers use “design activism” or “participatory design” processes to build urban literacy and equip residents with strategies to continue to get involved in city planning and development projects.
Walkability Low in East San Antonio Neighborhood
Nicolas ...
Improving health isn't limited to the doctor's office or to a lab. Quite the opposite, in fact. The zip code you grow up in is a better predictor of your health than your genetics. This is due to social and environmental factors that influence health behaviors. Take street trees, for example. A recent study, Neighborhood Greenspace and Health in a Large Urban Center, found that street trees have numerous economic and health benefits. Exposure to greenspaces can reduce sedentary time, promote physical activity, and reduce blood pressure, which is important for low-income and minority neighborhoods because they often lack aesthetically pleasing active spaces, yet are disproportionately burdened by increased rates of obesity and chronic disease. "We find that having 10 more ...
Abstract
Latino kids and families have limited spaces to be physically active. What are the best ways to improve Latino families’ access to “active spaces” like gyms, athletic fields, parks, and playgrounds? Many schools do not provide public access to physical activity facilities. Shared use agreements set up rules for public use of schoolyards after class. Repairing sidewalks, installing street lights, and improving parks can stimulate more physical activity. Creating safer streets can people to walk or cycle to schools, parks, and other family destinations. Also, using marketing and technology to change Latino kids’ physical activity patterns. Read the Issue Brief in English (PDF)
Read the Issue Brief in Spanish (PDF)
Contents
Introduction & Methods. This ...
The Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN) is working on goals to help enforce state and federal anti-pollution laws towards clean water, but also encouraging the state to drink less sugary beverages and instead opt for free, clean tap water. The state is currently dealing with high rates of obesity, at 31.2%, according to a 2014 report, with Latinos at a high rate of obesity at 31.7%. The movement towards drinking more tap water will also help reduce large numbers of plastic beverage bottles being disposed of in the state's landfills, explains a recent article. Efforts have been taken by TCWN to install water fountains in local community areas with messages, such as "Water first for thirst' and decorations of local art on the fountains. The drive to encourage the community to ...
Decades of conflicting health, fitness, and weight-loss messages has lead to major confusion about what Latinos and all Americans need to do to be healthy. Every Body Walk! is clarifying health messages by redefining physical activity. "We could be raising the first generation in modern society to end up with statistically shorter life expectancies than their parents," said Mark Fenton, adjunct associate professor at Tufts University. "And it won't be because of some infectious disease. It will be the diseases of sedentary living, like diabetes."
Walking or Running
Which sounds more doable on a daily basis: walking or running? Walking! Regardless of fitness level or weight status, complex biological and molecular processes occur within our body when we walk, which ...
In 2009 Douglas Johnson, the new principal at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. (10.5% Latino), realized the enormity of physical inactivity and obesity in his community. Latino kids lack safe, quality opportunities for physical activity, which heightens their risk for obesity and disease. Safe biking opportunities provide one avenue to improve the situation. Johnson and other leaders at Mountlake Terrace started taking advantage of existing opportunities offered by local cycling clubs. Soon, they began creating their opportunities and helped bring new bikes, helmets, and a brand-new bike trail to the school to expand students’ ability to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy.
Kids Aren't Playing Enough
In 2009 Douglas Johnson, ...
Through the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) "Take the Plunge to Better Health" grant, doctors in San Antonio, TX ( % Latino) will be able to prescribe swimming lessons for kids that would benefit from physical activity. San Antonio is one of a handful of cities that are linking the medical community with local park and recreation agencies to provide kids the opportunity to participate in physical activity to reduce obesity and improve their health. Swimming is an excellent form of physical activity to prevent obesity and diabetes and improve health. It increases blood flow to the brain and promotes cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal, and nervous system health. Additionally, it puts less strain on joints and connective tissues and is associated with fewer head ...
In the past 10 years, the Thomas Kelly High School girls’ soccer team has been one of the winningest teams in Chicago but they don’t even have their own field to practice or play on. The school is in Southwest Chicago’s Brighton Park Neighborhood (83% Latino), an area that is burdened by high rates of obesity and physical inactivity due to less access to safe and quality recreational facilities than other parts of Chicago. The Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) organized a campaign to renovate Kelly Park, the park adjacent to Kelly High School, to build a turf football/soccer field to make the park safer for students and families.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Patrick Brosnan, Sara Reschly, and other Brighton Park residents saw how environmental injustice negatively affected the ...
There is a movement in central Florida starting to blossom that promotes healthy food and activities through intergenerational connections. OASIS Catch Healthy Habits program encourages senior citizens to teach young kids how to stay healthy and active by volunteering and teaching them wisdom about what it takes to live a healthy long life. The program is sponsored by a grant from the Winter Park Health Foundation. The Rollins Center for Lifelong Learning established the Volunteers organized in Community Engagement program (VOICE), to recruit the senior citizen volunteers. The senior citizens volunteer with BrookShire Elementary every week to teach K-5 kids with a three-pronged strategy that includes a nutritious snack packed with energy, a nutrition lesson, and a fun game or ...
