In the past, food insecurity and obesity were viewed as separate public health problems, yet research now shows that people with unreliable access to food are also more likely to be obese. A new brief, Making the Connection: Linking Policies that Prevent Hunger and Childhood Obesity, released by Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides policymakers seeking to address hunger in their communities with policy options that can also contribute significantly to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Some of the policy strategies outlined in the brief include: Establishing healthy food financing initiatives to increase access to nutritious foods;
Supporting farm-to-institution, farm-to-school and school garden ...
Efforts to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care, family-based treatment programs, and support services could improve obesity care for racial/ethnic minority children, according to a new article in the journal Childhood Obesity. The article, "Are You Talking to ME? The Importance of Ethnicity and Culture in Childhood Obesity Prevention and Management," points out disparities in obesity rates among children ages 2-19: a 15.3% rate among whites, 20% among blacks, and 20.8% among Hispanics. Reasons for these obesity disparities are complex—ranging from differences in cultural beliefs and practices, level of acculturation, ethnicity-based differences in body image, and perceptions of media, sleep, physical activity and the socio- and environmental context in which ...
Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a series on new Salud America! research briefs examining Latino youth nutrition, physical activity and marketing. Today's focus is marketing. As with other children and adolescents, marketing may also have a powerful influence on the health behaviors of Latino youth. A new Salud America! research brief shows that: The amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, particularly among Latinos.
Latinos are avid users of digital media, including the Internet and mobile phones, among other new media platforms (e.g., Facebook, MySpace).
Latino youth, have been identified as an important target market segment among fast-food and soda companies.
Children viewing Spanish-language TV in the U.S. are heavily exposed ...
The Ad Council and several governmental agencies partnered to create a culturally appropriate series of public service announcements (PSAs) to address childhood obesity among communities of color, Forbes reports. The campaign's Latino-focused PSA encourages parents to help their kids achieve a healthy body ...
Let’s pretend you know nothing about Latino childhood obesity, but you want to learn. What do you do first? Google, of course. So you head online and type “Latino childhood obesity” in the search box. The No. 1 search result is Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, followed by the Salud America! Latino childhood obesity video at No. 2. The 3rd Annual Salud America! Scientific Summit on Sept. 14-16, 2011, in San Antonio, showcased several reasons why Salud America! is No. 1—the network continues to raise awareness of Latino childhood obesity, stimulate collaboration to combat the epidemic, and feature 20 research grantees. The summit highlighted the work of the 20 grantees and innovative experts ...
Efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic are reaching new heights all across San Antonio, a city with a large Latino population: City officials have rolled out SAbalance, a new Web site and social media campaign to increase awareness of local health and wellness opportunities.
Mayor Julián Castro has placed public health and education on the front-burner of the city’s agenda.
The mayor also appointed a Mayor’s Fitness Council, which features Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Dr. Ramirez leads Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, based at the IHPR.
IHPR researchers are working with the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas to ...
Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has a fact sheet in English and Spanish that highlights the prevalence, consequences and causes of overweight and obesity among Latino youth. While childhood obesity has increased significantly throughout the general population, children from minority communities, particularly Latinos, have been disproportionately affected. Why are Latino rates so much higher? Read the fact sheet and find out the many ...
Here are a few new resources to help in the fight against childhood obesity: ‘Let's Move! Cities and Towns’ Toolkit
Let's Move! Cities and Towns: Toolkit for Local Officials, part of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Initiative, aims to engage local leaders in efforts to fight childhood obesity. Report: ‘Why Place and Race Matter’
PolicyLink, a national research institute, released the Why Place and Race Matter report, which makes the case that addressing long-term racial inequities is critical to crafting effective strategies to build healthy, vibrant communities. CDC Food Environment Guide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new guide to help states and localities develop, adopt, implement, and evaluate a food procurement ...
A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and The Food Trust examines marketing strategies that may help parents, caregivers and youths select and purchase healthier foods and beverages at the grocery store. The report, Harnessing the Power of Supermarkets to Help Reverse Childhood Obesity, includes case studies and recommendations about marketing tactics, such as in-store promotions, placement and pricing, that can encourage healthy eating, increase customer satisfaction and help food retailers increase profitability. The report provides highlights from a meeting co-hosted by RWJF and The Food Trust in June 2010. More than 60 public health leaders, food retailers, food manufacturers, consumer product designers and marketers met in Philadelphia to address the vital ...
