In a part of Kansas that struggled with obesity, one coalition stepped up to find new ways to help the local community make healthier food choices. How’d they try to do it? They started to change the local food environment by increasing the availability and marketing of healthy foods in local stores—and it worked.
The Need for Healthy Community Food
Awareness: Wyandotte County, Kan., which is 27.1% Hispanic and is home to Kansas City, had a growing problem of obesity, with 41% of school children listed as overweight or obese. Officials with the Latino Health for All Coalition were increasingly aware that many residents shop at corner stores or small grocery stores, which do not always offer fresh produce or a variety of healthy options. Rather, junk food and drinks are the ...
For Alcohol Awareness Month (April), let’s use #SaludTues on April 14, 2015, to tweet information, resources, and tips that can help reduce alcohol abuse: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Alcohol Awareness”
DATE: Tuesday, April 14, 2015
TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (@NCADDnational), Institute for Research, Education, and Training in Addiction (@IRETApgh) Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter/X and share your stories and resources. #SaludTues is a Tweetchat on Twitter/X that focuses on a variety of different health issues. From September 2014 to March 2021, #SaludTues occurred weekly at noon CST ...
More than 23,000 people across the nation recently wrote letters to urge the Kellogg Co. to stop marketing sugary foods to families on their Dias Grandiosos website. The letters, which highlighted how Kellogg’s targets Spanish-speaking moms with family-oriented messages for meals that are high in sugar and salt, were collected by Salud America!, an obesity research and communication network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Salud America! leaders delivered the 23,000 letters to Kellogg’s this week. We will post their response here in coming days. Why is this effort so important? Food and beverage marketing influences kids’ diets and disproportionately focuses on unhealthy products, studies show. We believe families need healthy food options—rather ...
In the Fairfax County Public School District in Fairfax, Va., a parent group called Real Food for Kids had rid school cafeterias of highly processed junk foods and improved the nutrition of school snacks and menus. But the change was not very visible to students. So the group, led by parent JoAnne Hammermaster, helped bring a fresh food stations showcase the healthier selections—and add new ones—for students at district schools.
The Need for Healthy School Food
Awareness: Childhood obesity is a priority for the parent group Real Food for Kids (RFFK), which pushes for healthy changes in the Fairfax County Public School District (FCPSD), a 22% Latino district in Fairfax, Va. In 2012, for example, RFFK drove FCPSD leaders to remove foods with artificial dyes, additives, and ...
Do kids eat too much pizza? According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, pizza is the second-greatest source of caloric intake for youth ages of 2-19. Researchers also learned that on any given day 1 in 5 kids eat pizza and that when they do, they consume an additional 230 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 484 milligrams of sodium. When asked by reporters from ABC-7 what he thought about the study's findings, Daniel Cisneros a student from Canutillo High in El Paso, Texas responded: "I'm not surprised whatsoever. I think kids do eat too much pizza and they don't pay attention to much of the health facts that are involved with it." Reporters at ABC-7 also looked at what a typical school lunch menu looks like for local schools and found that on average pizza is served ...
The Salud Heroes video series shows how real people have made healthy changes for kids across the country, to inspire others to make similar changes. Now the series can be called "award-winning." More than 40 awards have been given to the Salud Heroes video series and the Salud America! website. Salud America! is a childhood obesity research and communication network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. The recognition is from the AVA Digital Awards, Communicator Awards, Telly Awards, Aurora Awards, Web Health Awards, HERMES Awards, Davey Awards, and W³ Awards. Just this week, Rick Carrillo, Salud America! TV producer/director, was named a finalist for the "Best in ...
Unhealthy diets can contribute to obesity. But in many neighborhoods, there are more fast-food restaurants than grocery stores and farmers’ markets, which can offer affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, low-fat milk, and other healthy options. Let’s use #SaludTues on March 17, 2015, to tweet and discuss strategies on how to bring families closer to grocery stores and healthy foods in their neighborhoods: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “How to Get Closer to My Grocer”
DATE: Tuesday, March 17, 2015
TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: The American Heart Association Voices for Healthy Kids Texas Campaign Team, The Food Trust (@thefoodtrust), and Voices for Healthy Kids ...
Alexander Castillo was looking to make some healthy changes in his own life when he came to the realization that his school lacked tasty, nutritious lunch options. Why couldn’t his school have a salad bar? After joining the Mayor’s Fitness Council Student Ambassador program, developing a plan with his mentor, and reaching out to his district’s food services department, Alexander was able to secure a salad bar for his high school. The new salad bar led to an increase in salad purchases and a new outlook on eating fresh fruit and vegetables at his school.
The Need for Healthy School Food
Awareness: Alexander Castillo, a student at Southwest Academy (a non-traditional alternative high school in the mostly Latino city of San Antonio, Texas) set a goal to pursue his passion for ...
Farmers’ markets are a great place to find fresh fruits and vegetables when your local grocery store doesn’t sell them. But when your neighborhood doesn’t have a farmers’ market OR a local grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables—are you just out of luck? Find out how Michelle Griego, a school teacher-turned healthy food leader, was inspired by her friend to start a farmers’ market in her neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas, so neighbors could not only have better access to fresh fruits and vegetables, but learn how to cook tasty dishes that make healthy eating a delicious way of life.
No Farmer's Market in Your Town?
Awareness: As a computer teacher at an elementary school in San Antonio, Texas, Michelle Griego watches kids choose chips over carrots ...
