Traveling doesn't always allow time for healthy choices, especially when airports are filled with unhealthy options at every corner, but now more vegetable based options may be seen at the next airport restaurant you visit. Many Airports are encouraging travelers to follow the 2015 Dietary Guidelines and offering up more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes in various ways. According to a recent article by foodtank, more than 70 percent of airport restaurants nationwide offer at least one plant-based entree, a 25 percent jump from 2001. Menus offered up include vegetable based plates with cultural influences like Mediterranean vegetable plates, and rice bowls. Chicago O'Hare is offering Bibb lettuce in Concourse G, and local vegetable shops are popping up in ...
A unanimous policy recommendation from the Congress to eliminate certain sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) was part of a report from the National Commission on Hunger on Monday, January 4, 2015. The report, states that there is scientific evidence that links consumption of SSB's can lead to negative health effects like obesity, and diabetes, especially amongst children. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that the prevalence of obesity among youth aged 2 to 19 is highest for Hispanic populations. Studies have shown that about 74 percent of Latinos have had a SSB by age two. A 2012 study from Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity reported that at least two billion dollars had been spent annually for SSB's in grocery stores from Supplemental Nutrition ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Future research needs
To increase access to physical activity sites in Latino communities, further research is needed on the effectiveness of SUAs for increasing physical activity in Latino communities. Many of the communities with SUAs have reported on challenges and solutions to implementing a SUA, but none provided data on the impact of SUAs on physical activity levels. Therefore, to encourage the implementation of SUAs in more Latino communities, more data are needed to support their effectiveness in increasing physical activity among Latino children. Real and perceived barriers to implementing SUAs should be further explored to identify areas for improvement in policies and legislation and to educate ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Conclusions
Latino children in underserved communities have limited opportunities for physical activity because of inadequate access to recreation facilities, unavailable school recreational facilities, and neighborhood characteristics that negatively impact use of these spaces. Many avenues and resources exist to increase access to recreation facilities among Latino children: Shared use agreements (SUAs) have been successfully implemented in some predominantly Latino communities. Incorporating the community in developing SUAs, sharing related costs, and solving liability concerns—via improved state and local policies and increased awareness of existing statutory protections for schools—can further ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Social marketing to encourage physical activity in children
An example of a successful community-based social marketing campaign is VERB, which promoted physical activity among U.S. children ages 9-13 years and four specific racial/ethnic groups, including Latinos.92 Participants received appealing messages through VERB-branded radio and TV advertisements with the tag line, “It's what you do!” For Latinos in particular, the tag line was modified to “Ponte las Pilas,” or “Get going” (the literal translation is “put in your batteries”). The advertisements emphasized family values, had an emotional tone, and were delivered in Spanish by authority figures and media personalities who were well ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Achieving safer streets and routes
Improving elements of the built environment, such as neighborhood and park infrastructure, and facilitating safe routes for active travel may help address many of these barriers and promote physical activity among Latino children. The National Complete Streets Coalition aims to improve the conditions of neighborhood streets for safer use by pedestrians and bicyclists, whereby “communities direct their transportation planners and engineers to routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation.” Many states, cities and towns are adopting Complete Streets planning ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
How sidewalks and the built environment impact physical activity
Characteristics of neighborhoods and the built environment—man-made features in the community, such as sidewalks, streets, buildings, parks and playgrounds—may prevent Latino children from using available physical activity sites.46–59 These include: availability and accessibility of competitive transport alternatives and infrastructures (e.g., transit, sidewalks, bike lanes; availability of local government and highway funds for sidewalks and bike lanes;
frequency of non-motorized transportation (variation by trip purpose and/or trip distance);
presence of integration between residential and commercial land use in dense population ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
The goal to increase access to schoolyards after school
One of the goals for Healthy People 2020 is to increase the access to school physical activity facilities during non-school hours, with a current goal of having 31.7 percent of U.S. schools providing access by 2020.11 The previous target, from Healthy People 2010, was to have 50 percent of schools allowing access by 2010; however, data showed that no progress was being made so the goal was revised.31 In fact, fewer schools provided access to their physical activity facilities in 2006 (29%) than the baseline in 2000 (35%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Before 2010, the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) sought ...
This is part of our Active Spaces & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Latino children lack access to active spaces
Latino children living in underserved communities in the United States have limited access to physical activity sites. Increasing access to physical activity sites may increase physical activity among Latino children in these communities. Children in underserved communities often have insufficient access to physical activity sites, such as trails, recreational facilities, and parks.18–23 A study investigating the availability of recreational resources in neighborhoods of three diverse areas of the United States—Baltimore city and county, Maryland; Forsyth County, North Carolina; and Manhattan and the Bronx, New York—found that Latino neighborhoods were less ...
