There are numerous mental and physical benefits to walking. However, many Americans live in nonwalkable communities and face challenges to this most basic form of physical activity. Although walking is an individual behavior, walking can be made easier by improvements to community walkability and by programs and policies that provide opportunities and encouragement for walking. In fact, this is exactly what the Surgeon General is calling for in the Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities. Multiple sectors of society can contribute to walkability, including transportation, land use, and community design; parks, recreation, and fitness; education; business and industry; volunteer and nonprofit organizations; health care; media; and public health. Check ...
A farmer's market is a lot of fun—for parents only, usually. Kids often just tag along, glumly, as their parents busily shop for fresh fruits and vegetables. That is, until the Market Sprouts Kids Club. Kaely Summers and other farmer's market managers in Oregon teamed up to create the Market Sprouts Kids Club program to teach local kids who come to the market about farming, fresh produce, and healthy eating. Now kids ages 5-12 who visit local markets, like Summers' Forest Grove Farmer's Market in Forest Grove, Ore., (23.1% Latino), do fun, interactive activities alongside farmers and volunteers who teach about healthier foods and healthier choices!
Farmer's Markets and Children in Oregon
Officials with Adelante Mujeres, a non-profit organization fin Forest Grove, have been ...
Many kids live in “recreation deserts,” which lack access to safe, affordable physical activity opportunities. Therefore, they often do not meet daily physical activity recommendations and are at increased risk for obesity. One way to reduce these challenges and increase physical activity among children is to provide free, safe recreation facilities in their neighborhood with relevant programming. Shawn Levy and Ricki Ruiz, two community-driven initiatives in Multnomah County, Ore., have crossed paths in their efforts to reduce recreation deserts in neighborhoods by building and fixing soccer fields and futsal courts.
Soccer Loving Kids Live in Recreation Desert
Oregon residents Shawn Levy and Ricki Ruiz love soccer and know it is good for kids and adults. But each found ...
Schools are an important environment to support health. Several challenges to physical activity and nutritious food still exist within many communities, both in and out of schools. It is important for parents and schools to work together to ensure that local, state, and national physical activity and nutrition standards eliminate these challenges in schools. When parents and schools work together to make the healthy the easy choice, they make health cool for their children. Join #SaludTues on September 1, 2015 to tweet about how parents and schools can create safe spaces for children to be physically active outside of regular school hours by using existing resources. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Why Health is Cool for Back to School”
DATE: Tuesday, September 1, 2015
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What so great about beans? Grad student Kelly Atterberry and mentor Carol Miles have the answer in their new bean-based garden and nutrition curriculum for K-12 students in Washington. By encouraging kids to learn to garden and try nutritious pulse crops (beans, lentils, peas, etc.), they hope the curriculum can help combat obesity and diet-related health problems among children.
Why Beans?
Kelly Atterberry originally wanted to go nursing school. Then she learned about agriculture and growing healthy food while working on a farm and again later while working in the Agriculture Research Station at Washington State University (WSU) in Mount Vernon, Washington (33.7 % Latino). So she switched her career course. As a grad student at WSU, she studied agriculture, which united her ...
Yoga and regular gym workouts are both effective, according to a new study, Ivanhoe reports. The study led by Dr. Daniel Hughes, an exercise researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, surprised all participants who expected one of the workouts to emerge as more effective. “I think I was expecting that one would be stronger than the other, and probably thinking that yoga would be the end all be all,” Michelle Hart, a study participant, told Ivanhoe. For the study, one group was asked to do yoga, a second group to do regular gym workouts, and a third group to just stay active. During the study, all participants exercised three hours a week and lost the same amount of body fat, “about four percent.” “All three arms were just ...
We are running out of water according to the NASA satellite GRACE. How do we know what technology will help us or hurt us in accessing and finding sustainable sources of water? California, Michigan, and other states have dealt with water issues for the last decade. We all need to talk about water, and what resources we have to help find solutions for clean and sustainable access of water for everyone. What can be done? Learn more about increasing access to sustainable water resources and questions about how to access resources at the #SaludTues Tweetchat, “Access To Clean & Sustainable Water” at noon central (1 p.m. eastern) Tuesday, August 18, 2015. The chat is co-hosted by Salud America! Follow the Tweetchat on Twitter (via @SaludAmerica, @LatinaLista and ...
Many packaged food companies and fast food restaurants are nixing artificial foods. Kellogg has jumped on this bandwagon and has recently stated they will stop using artificial colors and ingredients in their products. Kellogg's, the world's largest cereal company, plans to have all fake ingredients out of their boxes by the end of 2018. Other companies like General Mills are also upping their standards against unnatural ingredients, due to consumer demand, and making a goal to rid all artificial ingredients by 2016, in at least 90 percent of it's cereals. Trying to rebrand their products for "wellness" and add more healthy options like muesli and varieties of granola, Kellogg hopes to regain the consumers who are overwhelmingly making an impact on the company's stocks. In fact, ...
On Spanish-language TV, food and beverage advertising is out of whack. Just 1% of food ads show water, fruits, or veggies, and 70% of ads show fast-food or other restaurants, candy, gum, snacks, and sugary drinks, according to a study by the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Salud America!, and others. Those are discouraging numbers...but there’s good news! The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary self-regulation program for food and drink companies to create healthier advertising to kids under age 12. Who’s in? McDonald’s, Burger King, General Mills, PepsiCo, Kraft, Kellogg’s, Hershey, Mars, Nestle, Campbell Soup and more. We’d like to thank them for getting involved when it comes to healthier advertising to ...
