Alena Clark and Yvette Lucero-Nguyen worried that their University of Northern Colorado campus wasn’t breastfeeding-friendly for employees or students. So they worked with faculty, staff, and students to increase awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding. They coordinated with different departments on campus to establish three Lactation Stations to provide breastfeeding parents a private, comfortable place to express breast milk or breastfeed. They also drafted an institution-wide written policy for breastfeeding support to protect employees and students.
University Employees and Students Without Breastfeeding Privacy
In spring 2011, Alena Clark, Nutrition and Dietetics Associate Professor at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), where about 18% of undergraduates ...
A recent news article stated that children in San Marcos, Texas have higher rates of obesity and overweight rates than the rest of the state and the nation. A new model for healthier kids menus, called Best Food For Families, Infants and Toddlers (Best Food FITS) can help restaurants implement change with healthier kid's menu alternatives. Researchers from Texas State University created the model with Nutrition and Professor, Sylvia Crixell. The Students with a grant of $150,000 reached out and discussed the new model of kids menus to various restaurants, encouraging them to implement the Best Food FIT's Menu to help combat obesity. Crixell explained that removing sugary beverages from kids' diets were significant. Latinos compromise 37.8 percent of the San Marcos population. ...
This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Latino schools tend to have less effective food policies
While most school districts have a policy that addresses competitive foods, results from several studies suggest that the policies at schools with more Latino students are generally less effective and many schools have not implemented them.32–34 For instance, a longitudinal analysis conducted between 2001 and 2008 examined the BMI of 6,300 racially and socioeconomically diverse students from 40 states that set standards for competitive foods.33 Law strength and consistency were identified as two key factors affecting the law’s positive influence on student BMI. States with a relatively high proportion of Latino students were more likely to ...
This is part of our Healthier Schools & Latino Kids: A Research Review »
Latino students access to unhealthy competitive foods at school
Two national studies suggest ethnic disparities regarding access to specific types of competitive food venues. The first study, using data collected in spring 2005 as part of the third School Nutrition and Dietary Assessment (SNDA III), included a nationally representative sample of 395 U.S. public schools and found that Latino high-school students had greater access to brand-name fast foods in schools than their black or White peers.20 This same study found no differences in access to healthy foods based on student ethnicity or socioeconomic status. The second study, an updated report of the National Secondary School Survey, a comprehensive ...
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) was passed in 2010 with the goal of improving child nutrition. The Act proved to be historic investment in the health of the nation’s children, especially Latinos who have been traditionally underserved by nutritional standards. One of the primary changes to come from the act was the introduction of updated school nutrition standards. Over 97% of the schools in the country report that they are meeting the updated standards. Previously the United States Drug Administration (USDA) determined that 17.4 million American households were at risk for hunger in (in a report from 2009); this included one in four Latino families. Among them, households with children were more likely than average to face very low food security among children. “The ...
The Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation and Westwood Unidos are collaborating on a campaign aimed at Latino families and Latino youth to show that tap water is safe to drink daily. The Cavities Get Around campaign is an initiative of The Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation, hoping to eradicate childhood tooth decay and improve oral health for children. According to recent studies, Latino kids ages 0-5 consumption of sugary drinks is higher than the overall average. Rumors of how the tap water may be safe in the Westwood neighborhood has caused many Latino families to believe that the tap water is unsafe to drink. Also, many families are immigrants and are not used to drinking water directly out of the sink, explained Jessica Mahaffey, a marketing specialist for Denver Water in a ...
A farmer's market is a lot of fun—for parents only, usually. Kids often just tag along, glumly, as their parents busily shop for fresh fruits and vegetables. That is, until the Market Sprouts Kids Club. Kaely Summers and other farmer's market managers in Oregon teamed up to create the Market Sprouts Kids Club program to teach Latino kids and other kids who come to the market about farming, fresh produce, and healthy eating. Now kids ages 5-12 who visit local markets, like Summers' Forest Grove Farmer's Market in Forest Grove, Ore., (23.1% Latino), do fun, interactive activities alongside farmers and volunteers who teach about healthier foods and healthier choices!
Farmer's Markets and Children in Oregon
Officials with Adelante Mujeres, a non-profit organization focusing on ...
Reports show that Latino children in Texas are overweight (46.8%) compared to white (22.9%) and black children (26.3%). Texas is also considered the 5th most obese in state in the U.S. for children. Having access to fresh, healthy foods is a vital component to combat obesity for Latino children in Texas. Studies show that Latino families without access to healthier options, may have higher diet-related diseases and deaths. A recent campaign by the American Heart Association supports this idea, with their hashtag, #MoreAtMyStore encouraging stores throughout Austin Texas to provide increased healthy options for consumers. The campaign encourages social media users to use the hashtag #MoreAtMyStore to voice their concerns or text Austin to 52886, allowing consumers to be a part of ...
Florida Hospital for Children serves Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties (29.3% Latino) in Central Florida. Childhood overweight and obesity rates in these counties range from 26.7% to 40.7% compared to the national average of 30.7%. The prevalence of childhood diabetes is 1.7% in Latinos compared to 0.5% in Whites. The Florida Hospital for Children had already been running a healthy weight and wellness clinic for children and families who were struggling with obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes; however, they wanted to focus more on prevention in schools. Hospital staff said they were dealing with younger and patients and they didn’t just want to be intervening, they wanted to be preventing. The Florida Hospital for Children piloted Mission: FIT Possible program in 2012 ...
