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Parent speaks out about unhealthy, cheesy school lunch options



Advocate and parent Theresa Turco wants healthier meals for her student's district. Speaking out and giving ideas, while passing out a menu, Turco explained in a recent news article that meals were too focused on unhealthy items like pizza, mozzarella sticks, and nachos. Turco offered up suggestions at a Board of Education meeting on May 224th, 2016, asking about doing surveys in English and Spanish to help figure out what parents and students would like to see on the school's menu. She also suggested affordable ways to incorporate more fresh foods into the school's food environment through taste-tests, salad and smoothie bars, and working with programs like USDA's Farm to School and Chef to School for resources and training. Turco knows that healthy eating is better for ...

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New Health Insurance Literacy Guide: Mi Salud, Mi Voz



Raising Women’s Voices (RWV), a national initiative working to make sure women’s voices are heard and women’s concerns are addressed as policymakers put healthcare laws into action, has finished preparation of Mi Salud, Mi Voz: Una Guía Paso a Paso Para Mujeres Sobre Cómo Usar el Seguro Médico. This guide is a Spanish translation of many popular health literacy materials. RWV Regional Field Manager Cecilia Saenz Becerra worked with three translators—Tony Macias, Jen Hofer, and Lucy Acevedo to produce the Spanish-language guide. “Working with the team of translators, we used Spanish language that was precise and accurate, while also trying to make it accessible to diverse Spanish-language readers,” she explained. Mi Salud, Mi Voz: Una Guía Paso a Paso Para Mujeres ...

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Medicaid & CHIP Enrollment is Always Open



Open Enrollment for health insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act through a 2106 Marketplace plan is over. However, for those who qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), you can get health insurance any time of year, with coverage starting immediately. Medicaid provides health coverage for many low-income families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Many states have expanded their Medicaid programs to cover all people below particular income levels. CHIP provides the same type of low-cost health coverage to children in families that are above the pay threshold for Medicaid. In some states, CHIP is provided to pregnant women, as well. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 95% of ...

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La hepatitis C mata a más personas que cualquier otra enfermedad infecciosa



Los datos de los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) revelan que, en 2014, la hepatitis C mató a más de 19,600 estadounidenses, y ahora es más letal que las 60 enfermedades infecciosas conocidas, incluyendo el VIH y la tuberculosis, informa The Daily Mail. "Debido a que la hepatitis C a menudo tiene pocos síntomas notorios, el número de nuevos casos es probablemente mucho mayor de lo que se informó," dijo John W. Ward, M. D., director de la División de Hepatitis Viral de la CDC. "Debido a la detección y el subregistro limitado, se estima que el número de nuevas infecciones está más cerca de 30,000 por año. Debemos actuar ahora para diagnosticar y tratar las infecciones ocultas antes de que sean mortales y para prevenir nuevas infecciones." La ...

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CMS Report Suggest Latinos May Receive Different Levels of Health Care



  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health has recently released data detailing the quality of care received by people with Medicare Advantage by racial or ethnic groups. Based on the analysis from two sources, researchers analyzed how well the needs of Medicare beneficiaries are met for a variety of medical issues, several of which are disproportionately felt by the Latino population such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease. “This is the first time that CMS has released Medicare Advantage data stratified by race and ethnicity. Increasing understanding and awareness of disparities and their causes is the first step of our path to equity,” said Dr. Cara James, director of the CMS Office of Minority Health. ...

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Student approved meals gain success in South Carolina



What's a good way to make sure students eat the new healthy foods schools are trying to implement across the nation? Taste Tests! A school district in South Carolina, Laurens 56 school district, has worked with kids, offering taste tests to try the new healthy school food swaps, before putting them on the school menu. Now new favorites in the lunchroom include collards and broccoli! All items are taste-tested, and given feedback from kids before approved, to make sure students enjoy new items like the chicken fajita wraps. Cindy Jacobs, the Child Nutrition Director for the district, worked from the very beginning making sure teachers and students saw the importance of the new nutrition standards, and asked students to get creative by making their own lunch menus under the ...

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Niños indocumentados tendrán acceso a seguro médico en California



Más de 170,000 niños indocumentados se beneficiarán de una extensión de Medi-Cal (Cobertura de Salud de California) que les proporcionará un seguro médico completo que incluye los servicios de salud dental y mental, informa Univisión. "Tenemos que invertir en la próxima generación de californianos que también tiene que incluir a nuestros niños indocumentados", el senador Ricardo Lara le comento a CA Public Radio. Para ser elegible para  cobertura, los niños tienen que tener 19 años de edad o menos y una familia de cuatro miembros no deben ganar más de $ 65.505 al año. Actualmente, los legisladores estatales están trabajando en la ampliación de  cobertura de salud a adultos indocumentados. "La necesidad inmediata es asegurarse de que el gobierno federal, que ...

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4 Tips to Protect Yourself from Skin Cancer



Summer will be here soon, and to be honest, I can’t wait to go picnic with the family, take a trip to the beach and enjoy the sun. As we enjoy all these great summer time activities, let’s keep in mind the risks of sun overexposure, including skin cancer. Melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, is responsible for 79% of skin cancer-related deaths and is the leading cause of cancer death among women ages 25-30. All skin types and colors, including Latinos, are at risk. But, you don’t have to hide from the sun. Doctors say you can protect from skin cancer by following these simple tips from SkinCancer.org: • Use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher every day • Cover up with clothing, including UV-blocking sunglasses • Apply 1 ounce of sunscreen to your ...

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Arizona Parents Push for More Time for Recess



Christine Davis, a parent in Madison Elementary School District in Arizona, began looking into the school districts policies regarding time for recess and daily exercise in 2015. She made phone calls and sent emails to school administrators to gather information. She found that from the state level down, the policies were vague and the ones that were in place were mostly focused on P.E. This concerned her because she's knows an active body is an active mind, so she requested the district adopt more strict policies regarding recess to ensure kids get time to exercise everyday. Some Madison School District Government Board members agreed to discuss creating more specific guidelines for a recess policy. Davis and other parents also started the Madison Parents for Recess group ...

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