Eureka High School Students Work to Get Better Water Access



CA4Health works in rural and small California counties to reduce chronic disease and illness by helping bring about changes in the community that make it easier for people to make healthier choices in their daily lives. Many of these communities have a high Latino population. In Humboldt County, the local health department partnered with students and staff at Eureka High School to implement Hydration Nation, an effort that increased the access and appeal of fresh drinking water as a healthy alternative to the sugary beverages that are helping fuel the nation’s obesity epidemic. At Eureka High School, there were 11 older-style water fountains available to the 1,200 students and 80 staff members, none of which allowed easy filling of the reusable water bottles which were gaining ...

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Youth Help Latino Corner Store Market Fresh, Healthy Foods



Latino neighborhoods have one-third as many supermarkets as non-Latino ones, studies show. This can limit food options to what can be found at local corner stores, which aren’t known to carry an abundance of fresh, healthy foods. In the mostly Latino city of Watsonville, Calif., corner stores either didn’t have many healthy options or weren’t encouraging customers to but the few healthy options they did have. One local corner market worked with youth to improve its bottom line while promoting healthy eating in the community. EMERGENCE Awareness: In California’s Santa Cruz County, located on the central pacific coast, the 80% Latino city of Watsonville has disproportionately higher rates of obesity than many other cities. The city’s food environment plays a big role in ...

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Parents Help Expand Bike/Walk to School for Kids in Fairfax, Va.



Jeff Anderson, a parent at Wolftrap Elementary School in Fairfax, Va., wanted his daughter to bike to school. Unfortunately, the school had no bike racks. He went to the principal and the school installed bike racks. Anderson then joined other parents, school officials, and community partners to improve one of the school district’s transportation policies. Now parents from all over the community, including those with large Latino populations, have created safe routes for kids to walk and bike to district schools. EMERGENCE Awareness: In Spring 2008, Jeff Anderson noticed that there were no bike racks at Wolftrap Elementary School in Vienna, Va., a city with a 12% Latino population. An avid bicyclist, Anderson wanted his then-first-grade daughter to learn biking’s sense of ...

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Residents Bring First-Ever Park to California’s 92701 Zip Code



A group of Latina women in the park poor city of Santa Ana, Calif., were desperate to have a safe place for their children to play. One mom, Irma Rivera, saw a child almost get hit by a car while playing in an empty parking lot, and she vowed to do something about the lack of safe active spaces. She and other moms went to non-profit group Latino Health Access (LHA) for support and found that the group was willing to champion the cause. Through teamwork, determination and perseverance, LHA and the moms managed to get land and funding to build the area’s first-ever public park and community center for Latinos in south Santa Ana. EMERGENCE Awareness: Latinos in Santa Ana, Calif., struggle with poverty, language and cultural barriers, obesity, and disease—despite being part of Orange ...

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Hydration Stations Start a Water-Drinking Movement in Washington



Latinos are the fastest-growing minority group in Washington State. Because Latino kids tend to drink more sugary drinks than their White peers, healthy beverage policies have the potential to impact Latino kids’ health in big ways. In Washington, community partners are teaming-up with schools and lawmakers to come up with ways to encourage kids to quench their thirst with water, not sugar. EMERGENCE Awareness/Learn: Childhood obesity is a problem in the state of Washington, which is 11% Latino. In 2012, 25% of Washington children ages 2-4 who received benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC; Latinos comprise about 41% of WIC participants) were overweight or obese, according to the state’s Department of Health. About 23% ...

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Travis Park: San Antonio’s Newest Example of ‘Placemaking Success’



Travis Park in San Antonio, TX has gone from "barren to beautiful" according to the Project for Public Spaces. In a recent effort to revitalize the park, the City of San Antonio's Center City Development Office (CCDO) partnered with the Project for Public Spaces (PPS). PPS, a non-profit organization dedicated to building stronger communities by creating safe public spaces, recently launched a national placemaking campaign called Heart of the Community. As part of this initiative, the PPS and San Antonio's CCDO worked together on an action plan to revitalize one of San Antonio's formerly run down parks. They envisioned Travis Park as a place where people could gather to relax, have fun, be active, and socialize. Now with some teamwork and careful planning they've ...

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Boosterthon Provides Schools with Healthy Fundraising



Boosterthon Fun Run has been promoting healthy fundraising across the United States since 2001. This Atlanta based company has worked with over 1000 schools in 22 states to bring healthy, active fun runs to students as a form of fundraising for schools. Their services provide a nine day program including three main components; a pep rally, Team Huddle days, and a Fun Run. These activities give students ways to be active and have fun at the same time, while doing character building and school pride activities. Fundraising occurs at these events when parents, families, and friends pledge money to students, giving them a set amount for each lap they take around a track set up by Boosterthon on the day of the Fun Run. A Mom's Rising Blogger from the Tampa Bay Area, Denise ...

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Smarter Snacks through Smarter Vending in Ohio



In 2010 Ohio became the first state in the country to turn the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Competitive Foods and Beverages Guidelines, which outline nutritional criteria for snacks and beverages sold in school, into law. Cincinnati Public School District began to make their changes according to this law in 2010 by re-evaluating their vending machine contracts. Jessica Shelly, Food Service Director, found vending machines all over campuses throughout the district. Many were not monitored well and there was nothing being done to keep track of the many different brands/types of machines placed throughout the district. School leaders decided to wipe the slate clean, getting rid of all vending machines and putting out a new request for proposal for machines with timers and ...

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Schools in Hall County GA Get Healthier Snacks



Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program participants in Hall County, Ga. are working toward providing healthy snacks in all schools. “The way the Alliance does it is right on,” explained Weirs. “We didn’t have any health efforts in place at the time, and we needed to know what a healthy school should look like. The Alliance gave us the road map, the tools and the recognition. They helped us identify where we were currently, where we were we going and what incentives we needed to get there. The Alliance made it so easy.” The biggest task Weirs, as the district's Wellness Coordinator, took on was getting sugar-sweetened sports drinks out of elementary schools. Many schools are hesitant to make this change because of their fears that sales will ...

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