A healthy diet is critical for the wellness of Latinos and all people. Yet we know that fast-food options outnumber healthier options like supermarkets and farmers’ markets in many Latino neighborhoods. This lack of healthy food access results in overconsumption of unhealthy foods and higher obesity risk. Now the lack of diversity among registered dieticians is making it harder for Latinos to get knowledge and resources for a healthy diet, according to The New York Times. In fact, Latinos make up only 12.7% of registered dieticians, according to Zippia. That is less than the 18.5% Latino share of the U.S. population. “It’s really a no-brainer that we need to consider the communities we serve,” said Doug Greenaway, president of the National WIC Association, according to ...
Young Latino kids drink too many sugary fruit drinks. Unfortunately, sugary fruit drinks that claim to be natural are often just fruit-flavored beverages that have added sugar and are just as unhealthy as soda. This is a contributing factor to the high rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular issues that Latino kids often face. That’s why there’s a new toolkit called “The Truth About Fruit Drinks” from researchers at the University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, and Interlex Communications with support from Healthy Eating Research and the Arcora Foundation. “This toolkit contains an evidence-based social media messaging campaign for countering beverage industry marketing and decreasing the purchase of fruit drinks by Latinx ...
Many Latino families struggle to get enough food to feed their families. Even if they do get enough food, what they have access to is often unhealthy and nutritionally vacant. This contributes to a variety of disparities in diabetes, heart disease, and other health conditions. We need nutrition security. This means having consistent access to and availability and affordability of foods and drinks that promote well-being, while preventing — and, if needed, treating — disease. In honor of American Heart Month in February and National Nutrition Month in March, let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, to discuss emerging strategies to change environments, systems, and policies to encourage nutrition security and healthier hearts for Latinos and all people! WHAT: ...
Avocados are a key part of a nutritious diet for Latino families, according to new research from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Researchers compared Latinos families who consumed a few avocados (three per week) and families who consumed a lot of avocados (14 per week) along with a standard nutrition intervention over six months. Latino families who ate more avocados reported consuming fewer calories, saturated fats, and sodium, which are major contributors to obesity among Latinos. They also had healthier hearts in terms of structure and function “Recent trials have focused on individuals, primarily adults, and limited to changes in cardiometabolic disease blood markers. ...
Childhood is critical for building healthy eating behaviors that can help your child grow and prevent chronic diseases. That’s why Healthy Eating Research (HER) has developed new guidelines that can help parents decide not only what to feed young kids aged 2 to 8, but how to feed them and introduce lifelong healthy habits. These guidelines apply to all parents, but it can be particularly helpful to Latino parents, as Latino kids are more likely to develop chronic health issues like high blood pressure and obesity and are often in schools with few healthy options.
How Should You Encourage Kids to Try New Foods?
To create these guidelines, HER gathered a national panel of 15 experts in child development and nutrition. They developed strategies to help parents get their children ...
New data from the American Heart Association shows that Latinos who eat healthily have healthier hearts. This research shows that Latinos who followed a healthy dietary plan had healthier hearts in terms of structure and function. “Healthy diet quality is an important and vital tool in the prevention of heart disease,” said lead study author David Flomenbaum, a medical student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. “Many of our results correspond to current knowledge about diet quality and cardiovascular health.”
The Study and Its Findings on Healthy Eating and Heart Health Researchers evaluated over 1,800 participants in the “Echocardiographic Study of Latinos” ancillary study. With this, they compared adherence to two popular healthy ...
If one were to walk in the streets of Boston and see a colorful mural, there’s a big chance Silvia López Chavez created that masterpiece. López Chavez is a Dominican-American visual artist changing the meaning of advocacy. Throughout her career she has created many murals with bold and vivid colors capturing Latino traditions and culture while emphasizing the intersection of art design and community issues like the environment and healthy food. “I think that as an artist, I feel the responsibility of being someone who is not only creating art, to change and transform spaces, but also people,” López Chavez said. “And I think that my goal is to be able to connect as much as possible using art as a vehicle for connection with others to myself, to others and also ...
California can no longer punish cities for enacting sugary drink taxes, as per an October 2021 court ruling that declared the penalty provision of the state’s Keep Groceries Affordable Act of 2018 unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Cultiva La Salud and supported by ChangeLab Solutions and the American Heart Association. The implications of the ruling are widespread throughout the state. Charter cities, which include many of the largest cities in the state, can consider taxes that aim to reduce purchases of sugary drinks and help community nutrition with the revenue without the fear of punishment. Before this, the state could penalize a charter city that enacted a tax on sugary drinks by depriving the city of its sales tax revenues. Sales taxes often account for ...
Latinos and other people of color suffer high rates of obesity. This is often due to racist policies and discriminatory practices that create less access to healthcare, healthy food, affordable housing, and financial resources for families of color. What can we do about this? You are invited to join a virtual workshop, "Systems and Obesity: Advances and Innovations for Equitable Health and Well-Being," on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 (10 a.m. To 2:45 p.m. ET) and Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 (1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET). This is the third workshop in a series from the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions of the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Find the results of the first and second workshop. "The workshop will explore how to ...
