May 17th this year (2017) is the when Seattle will propose an ordinance to tax sugary drinks like soda, energy drinks, juice, and sweetened teas at two cents per ounce for distributors. Like many of the cities working to decrease health risks associated with consumption of sugary drinks, Seattle hopes to deter sugary drink consumption, increase health and fund educational disparities. Berkeley, in California, has successfully decreased the consumption of sugary drinks by 20 percent. Also, Mexico is continuing to see a decrease in consumption of sugary drinks in the country with the added sugary beverage tax. The tax in Seattle is being proposed by Mayor Ed Murray who is expecting to raise over 15 million dollars to help fund educational programs that would be recommended by the ...
Momsrising.org is asking mom's to become school wellness heroes to help make sure physical education and healthy foods are a part of school wellness policies. Kids spend most of their day at school, eating most of their calories and expending most of their energy at school, so it is vital for the school environment to be healthy. Currently, over 99% of schools are meeting new healthy snack standards, but with the new healthy school meal standards being rolled back around sodium, non-fat and flavored milk and whole grains, there is still so much work to do to make sure kids are in a safe and healthy school environment all day. You can help support health and wellness in schools before the end of June while school districts update their wellness policies. Get involved by dropping off ...
Lack of affordable housing has strong implications for many Latinos and greatly impacts their quality of life. Many Latinos live in racially segregated, low-income, high-poverty areas with limited access to fresh, healthy foods, quality healthcare, and physical activity spaces. Also, many areas restrict Latinos access to opportunities impacting their choice of school or their children and limits their chance to obtain higher paying jobs. For those living in rural areas, the access to affordable housing is often even more limited. According to the non-profit group, Smart Growth America, the cost of living in rural areas is generally lower than in metro areas, yet many residents of rural cities and towns nevertheless struggle to afford the homes and apartments available in those ...
On a early May morning in San Francisco, Calif. (15.1% Latino), people gathered on a dangerous street to stand arm to arm as a buffer between moving cars and the bike lane. The current bike lane is located between street parking and moving traffic. This is known as a door zone lane because people continuously fling open their car doors in this space and drive into and out of this space to park their cars. As we all know, paint does little to stop a person from driving their vehicle over or parking in the "protected" space. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's (SFMTA) saw the bike lanes fill up with auto traffic and double parking and proposed protected bike lanes for an upcoming project on the neighboring one-way street, according to Streets Blog San Francisco. ...
Although the recent menu labeling bill was pushed back for implementation until 2018 across restaurants, recent research reveals that removing and labeling unhealthy ingredients like trans fats can make a healthy difference for consumers. A study from JAMA Cardiology studied urban counties in New York State that restricted the use of trans fats in public eateries like restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, park concessions and senior meal programs. The study concluded, after three years that there were there fewer hospital admissions for cardiovascular events in counties with a ban on trans fats. Since July 2003, the FDA approved labeling trans fats for consumers awareness on the dangerous ingredient that is often found in fast foods, baked goods, chips and can lead to higher ...
Swimming may be the perfect physical activity to help Latino kids achieve good health. But city governments often make the "painful choice to shut their pools to save the budget," according to a New York Times story a few years ago. Pool closures can especially hurt low-income and Latino and racial/ethnic communities where the local pool may be the only luxury. What can community residents do to save pools? We at Salud America! are happy to spotlight two communities who stepped up in unique ways when their local pools faced being cemented in!
Hannah Lieder: Saving a Public Pool in the Heart of Minneapolis Phillips Pool had been open for 22 years in the heart of urban Minneapolis, Minn., when it shut down for renovations in 2009. Renovation plans turned into ...
Where you live determines so much about your overall quality of life. For many Latinos, housing segregation limits their access to quality education, healthcare, and opportunities and often limits them in what they can do for employment. In the city of San Francisco, Calif. (15.3% Latino population), city planners have been seeking input from residents on a new 130-unit housing project in the historic Mission area. According to CBS News, San Francisco is the fourth most expensive city to live in in the United States. In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in programs, practices, and policies. Join our site, connect with others, and get involved. The rising costs for housing (the median home price there is $820,000) have simply ...
Paid maternity leave is linked to numerous positive health outcomes for parents and baby, breastfeeding is one. Sadly, in the U.S., only 12% of private sector workers have access to paid family leave through their employers.
The Thing About Paid Family Leave Policies
The thing about paid family leave policies in the U.S., is that the U.S. does not mandate paid family leave. California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and soon New York are the only states to have state-mandated paid leave plans in place. Among 41 industrialized nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European Union, the U.S. is the only country not to require paid maternity leave. The U.S. provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the federal Family Medical Leave Act ...
Congrats to San Francisco's new ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors ensuring all kids menus will not longer include sugar-sweetened beverages. This is a win for Latino kids, why?
Regular consumers of sugary beverages have a 26 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and research shows that about 74% of Latino kids have had a sugary drink by age 2.
Parents are still allowed to purchase a sugary beverage with their child's meal in this new policy change, Supervisor Ken Yeager explained to Bay City News Service. However, Yeager went on to ask, "Why in the world you put something that is so poisonous on their plate?"
In fact, studies say that 71% percent of California’s children will experience tooth decay by third grade, resulting in 900,000 missed school days per ...
