Obesity Care Week 2025 (#ObesityCareWeek) is here! From March 3-7, 2025, Obesity Care Week is an annual public awareness effort to end weight stigma. It promotes education for a better world for people living with obesity. Also, World Obesity Day is March 4, 2025. Our Salud America! health team is happy to serve as an Obesity Care Week Champion to help raise awareness. "We need to continue to address the state of obesity care among Latinos and all people," said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. Salud America! research has found that many people face health issues due to the non-medical drivers of health, from poverty and support to affordable housing and transit. This contributes to ...
The beverages we drink are important for our hydration and health. That’s why experts have made recommendations for healthy drink choices for children ages 5 to 18 based on evidence from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Heart Association. Healthy Eating Research (HER) has published these main recommendations: Beverages to drink: Plain drinking water and plain pasteurized milk. Beverages to limit: 100% juice, plant-based milk alternatives, and sweetened flavored milk. Beverages to avoid: Sugary drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages, beverages with non-sugar sweeteners, and caffeinated beverages. Let’s dive deeper into these recommendations and how they can impact your ...
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the country, impacting 38 million adults in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The long-lasting condition also contributes to heart disease and cancer. That is why it’s important to address the non-medical drivers of health – such as access to transportation, healthy foods, and green spaces for safe play and exercise – which can influence risk for diabetes, especially for those genetically predisposed to it. Let’s dive into some new studies that explore diabetes and its impact on all people.
1. Issues with Diabetes for Those in Tough Financial Situations
Poverty can be a huge factor in the development of diabetes, especially in early childhood with those who ...
Does your town have a farmers market? Farmers markets are a path to healthy food access. They are especially important amid the push for nutrition security. Fortunately, the Farmers Market Coalition is stepping up to support farmers markets. They’re supporting markets and sharing how markets increase access to healthy, fresh produce and social connections, and engage farmers in the local economy. "As hubs for connection and community resilience, farmers markets have particularly risen to the occasion this year by providing a necessary sense of unity and stability during a time of great uncertainty," according to the coalition. "Farmers markets don’t just happen. The hard work of farmers market operators should be recognized." For National Farmers Market Week ...
Over the last several years, cities across the US have taxed sugary drinks to reduce the consumption of these beverages and prioritize the health of their communities. In 2018, Seattle joined this wave of cities in placing a tax on sugary drinks. At 1.75 cents per ounce, the tax was created to disincentivize the consumption and purchase of sugary drinks and improve community health. But did it work? A recent study published on the JAMA Network sought to answer this very question by comparing the health of children within the taxable area to those in neighboring areas. This is what they found.
Sugary Drink Tax Studies
Studying the relationship between the sugary drink tax and health is nothing new. In fact, previous studies on taxes have pointed to a ...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another step forward in its campaign against “forever chemicals,” also known as perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).
On April 10, 2024, the EPA announced its final ruling on the first-ever PFAS drinking water standard in the country.
The EPA ruled in favor of the legally enforceable standard that limits PFAS, which has been linked to adverse health effects such as impacts to a baby's development and increased cancer risk, in drinking water.
The final ruling on the matter comes nearly a year after closing public comment on the issue, which garnered 121,969 comments — 832 of them from Salud America! members who submitted a model comment in support of the regulation.
Read all comments. PFAS Drinking Water ...
Recently, the FDA sought public comment on strategies to reduce added sugar consumption. Sugary drink consumption, which is heavy among Latino children, represents a large portion of the added sugar intake in the diets of Americans. This increases risk of obesity and disease. Salud America! created a model comment that people could submit to FDA to share five pediatrician-approved ways to limit sugary drink consumption among children! Comments were due Jan. 22, 2024. Update 1/24/24: Salud America! members submitted 260 of the 418 comments that FDA received to reduce added sugars and limit sugary drinks in the American diet!
View the Salud America! Model Comment to Reduce Added Sugars, Sugary Drink Consumption
Greetings, I applaud FDA for seeking public input on reducing ...
Did you know Latino kids consume more sugary drinks—soda, sports and energy drinks, sugary fruit juices, and flavored milk—than the average child? Heavy consumption of sugary drinks puts children at greater risk of obesity and disease. This is why Healthy Eating Research created a new toolkit to help healthcare systems add a beverage screener to their electronic health record (EHR) system to ask parents questions about their child's sugary drink consumption. The goal is to identify "unhealthy beverage consumption patterns in young children and [help] families develop healthy beverage habits," according to the toolkit.
How Can You Start Screening for Sugary Drinks?
The new toolkit shows how health systems can start screening for sugary drinks as part of their electronic ...
The amount of Americans who are food insecure — without enough food for a healthy life for all family members — is on the rise, according to a new USDA report. 12.8% of Americans struggled with food insecurity in 2022, up from 10.2% in 2021. Latino households experienced the largest spike. “Too many of our neighbors struggle to put healthy food on the table," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "[The data] paint a picture of just how many Americans faced the heartbreaking challenge last year of struggling to meet a basic need for themselves and their children." Let's explore the report and the issue of food insecurity among Latinos.
How Many Latinos Experience Food Insecurity?
U.S. food insecurity had been in decline for several years. But, after the food ...
