How can city leaders promote healthy living among constituents? Why not host a 2-mile community walk, the way San Antonio Councilman Mike Gallagher has organized for June 2015? Events such as these are a great for engaging constituents in important discussions about local policies and they demonstrate just how important it is to make active living the norm for Latino communities. The event is set to take place on: Date: Saturday, June 27th, 2015
Place: Comanche Lookout Park, 15551 Nacogdoches Rd. For more information and to RSVP call: ...
Some say the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act passed in 2010 hasn't been effective, but data from USDA and academics show that most schools across the country are actually serving healthier food and kids are eating it. This is good news for Latino students, who are more likely to eat school-provided lunch than their White peers. Since the Act, school lunches have gotten makeovers across the country. These days, 95% of school districts are serving healthier school lunches. School lunches are not only healthier, but are looking and tasting better than ever in most schools. Yet, some law makers want to roll back these healthy standards. Congress will debate whether to re-authorize the law this year. If you support the new school food standards, the American Heart Association has a ...
Farmers' markets are a great place to buy fresh, often locally-grown healthy produce. However, farmers' markets sometimes have a reputation for being pricey and not welcoming to low-income folks. Programs across the country are changing this by allowing SNAP participants to use their food benefits at markets and some markets are gaining the capability to double SNAP participants' dollars when they buy fresh, healthy produce. The Montclair Farmers' Market in New Jersey is the latest market to offer better access to healthy foods. In addition to accepting SNAP payments through the area agencies Partners for Health and City Green, the market will match all purchases made with the supplemental food programs via its "Double Bucks" initiative up to $10, meaning that an individual ...
How do you get an entire city of people to get up and moving? Build them new trails and places to walk! That’s what happened when Angela Mora and other El Paso city officials teamed with community groups to gather a small budget and launch Move! El Paso Fitness Trails. The initiative created 13 new walking trails for the community, expanding the opportunities for people to walk, get moving, and reduce obesity!
The Struggle to Stay Active in El Paso Angela Mora, deputy director of the El Paso Public Health Department, was well aware of the city’s growing obesity problem. A lack of physical activity opportunities was a big reason for these obesity rates. A few years ago, about 29% of adults in El Paso County were physically inactive, compared to state and national averages ...
Improved technology, like smart phones and tablets, is often blamed for increasing unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles in children, especially Latino children. But what if this technology could be used to actually promote healthy living? Learn how a non-profit in Austin, Texas created a free mobile App that connects folks ready to get healthier with countless opportunities right in their backyard. EMERGENCE Awareness: Chances are most Texans know someone, even kids, with diet-related health conditions. In fact, 42.8% of 4th graders in Texas are overweight or obese. Making healthier lifestyle changes can make a big difference, especially for Latino kids, who make up a significant percentage of kids in Texas and are more likely to be overweight. Fortunately, IT’S TIME TEXAS (ITT) ...
San Antonio student Michaelie Love knows that, for many high school students, the hour before school begins is spent socializing or cramming for tests—not in the cafeteria eating a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is included in the federal school nutrition program and is free or reduced-price for students who qualify. Latinos represent more than one-fifth of students participating in this federal program, but are they showing up for breakfast? Health professionals say skipping breakfast before school can lead to poor academic performance and unhealthy over-eating later in the day. Love wanted to make eating breakfast at school easy, healthy, and cool.
Breakfast Habits among Youth
The North East Independent School District (NEISD) is the second-largest school district in San ...
The zoo isn’t exactly a place of health (for humans), with typical fare like popcorn, ice cream, cotton candy, and sugary drinks. However, in El Paso, TX, kids and visitors of all ages are learning fun facts about how they can be healthy by copying habits, like eating fruits and vegetables, from animals. In 2012, the El Paso Zoo installed new signs and healthy menu items to promote good health for its record-breaking 354,130 visitors, and they continue to work with city public health officials to make a healthy lifestyle second nature to the community. EMERGENCE
Awareness: In 2010, El Paso, Texas, a vibrant a city with a rich culture at the west-most point of the state, was named the “third-fattest city” in the U.S. Sue Beatty, a health education and training manager ...
El Paso, Texas has come a long way since ranked as the third-fattest U.S. city in 2012. A renewed focus on eating healthy and moving more is paying off; obesity rates in the area are dropping. In addition to local health departments and community organizations, schools are playing a big role in these changes by addressing health, culture and community all at once. At Bowie High School, students are getting exposed not only to gardening, nutrition education and business skills, they are reconnecting with cultural traditions that favor fresh and flavorful over processed and sugary.
EMERGENCE
Awareness/Learn: The city of El Paso, Texas, shares its border with Mexico. This creates an interesting cultural dynamic where some students cross the border daily from Mexico to go to Bowie ...
From PowerPoint presentations to outlines to thick textbooks, there are many ways students learn about the world while at school. Rarely do they get the chance to learn by actually solving real-world problems—let alone problems that directly affect their lives. Learn how a high school teacher merged academics with activism and rallied his students to bring healthy, affordable fruits and vegetables into their underserved neighborhood.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: While listening to the radio one day, San Antonio resident and high school teacher Rick Treviño got an idea. He was listening to a news story about how a group in Michigan started a Double Up Food Bucks program at local farmers’ market as a way to allow low-income folks to put their federal food assistance toward healthy ...
