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Establishing healthy habits for pregnant teens and teen mothers is important to reduce disparities in Latino childhood obesity. 30% of Latino children ages 2-5 are overweight or obese compared with only 21% of non-Latino white children.
In addition to providing day care for young parents while they complete high school or their GED, the Healy-Murphy Center, in San Antonio, TX ( % Latino), also provides nutrition education and cooking classes.
50% of the students at Healy-Murphy are pregnant of parenting, and 30% are homeless.
Thanks to nursing professor, Dr. Novak, as well as nursing students and nutritionists at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, these classes have increased from four hours per week to four days per week.
In addition to the health benefits for both parent and child, nutrition education and cooking classes also give students hope for their future. Cooking classes provide the parent with a skill that is valuable in a city with a high demand for hospitality, tourism and management workers.
Click here to read about the Healy-Murphy Center.
Click here to read about the nutrition education and cooking classes.
By The Numbers
1
Supermarket
for every Latino neighborhood, compared to 3 for every non-Latino neighborhood
