Salud America! pilot researcher Dr. Nelda Mier documented a lack of sidewalks, street lights and parks along the poverty-stricken Texas-Mexico border—an environment that she found contributes to obesity and sedentary behavior among Latino children. But this story doesn’t end with just research results. To change the local environment to make it easier to engage in physical activity, Dr. Mier—armed with lessons from Salud America! on how to promote research-based policy change—brought her project research results to community leader and policy advocate Anne Williams Cass. The research helped guide advocacy efforts of local organizations dedicated to affordable housing, including Cass’ Proyecto Azteca, which plans to communicate with Texas legislators about the need ...
Community recreation centers that develop culturally tailored programs that invite Latino families inside can increase sustained use of the center for physical activity in this population at heightened risk for childhood obesity, according to a new study in Childhood Obesity. Living near community recreation centers (CRC) is associated with increases in adolescent and adult physical activity. However, the efficacy of efforts to increase use among Latino parents and children is unknown. So researchers, led by Dr. Shari Barkin, a Vanderbilt University researcher and grantee of Salud America!, compared 66 Latino parent–child pairs who had participated in a culturally tailored healthy lifestyle program at a community recreation center and completed a 12-month follow-up ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 20 is Dr. Miriam Vega. Find all briefs here. Dr. Miriam Vega
“La Familia en la Cocina is Speaking Two Languages” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Miriam Vega of the Latino Commission on AIDS in New York south interviewed Latina mothers and children to better understand their knowledge, attitudes and communication behaviors related to food consumption and preferences, as well as the built and cultural environments in which they make decisions. Key preliminary findings include: a large gap exists in the manner in which a mother and child communicate; and
many immigrant ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 19 is Dr. Nelda Mier. Dr. Nelda Mier
“Built Environment Policy for Physical Activity in Mexican-American Children” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Nelda Mier of the Texas A&M Health Science Center investigated Latino children’s perceptions of environmental factors that influence their physical activity, and documented environmental characteristics in colonias in South Texas. Colonias are unincorporated settlements along the U.S.-Mexico border where many people live in impoverished conditions and lack basic services such as running water. Key preliminary findings ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 18 is Dr. Zan Gao. Find all briefs here. Dr. Zan Gao
“Impact of Physical Activity on Fitness & Academic Performance” In his Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Zan Gao of Texas Tech University examined the impact of a structured exercise program (interactive video game Dance Dance Revolution [DDR], in which players stomp on a dance mat to mimic steps of an on-screen dancer; aerobic dance; and jump rope) on physical fitness and academic performance in urban Latino children. Key preliminary findings include: children who participate in a structured exercise program at school are ...
Watch new videos from Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, showcasing how the program is helping dozens of communities across the country to reshape their environments to support healthy living and prevent childhood obesity. The videos below feature program achievements in Chicago, and Central Valley, ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 17 is Dr. Claudia Galindo. Find all briefs here. Claudia Galindo
“Obesity Among Young Latino Children: Disparities and Changes Over Time” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Claudia Galindo of the University of Maryland studied factors and behaviors that may affect weight, nutrition and physical activity among Latino youth. Key preliminary findings include: Latino children are more likely to be obese than White and Asian children at all points of observation;
among Latino children from different countries and regions of origin, Central American, Puerto Rican and Mexican ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 16 is Dr. Dharma Cortes. Find all briefs here. Dr. Dharma Cortes
“Improving Food Purchasing Selection among Low-Income Latinos” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Dharma Cortes of the University of Massachusetts Boston used an educational intervention (i.e., guidelines geared to ease understanding of nutrition) to try to improve food purchasing behaviors and thus increase healthy eating among low-income Spanish-speaking Latino families with children under age 18. Key preliminary findings include: low-income Latino families spent one-third of their income on food;
much of ...
Editor’s Note: This is a 20-part series featuring new research briefs on Latino childhood obesity, nutrition, physical activity and more by the 20 grantees of Salud America! Part 15 is Dr. Shari Barkin. Find all briefs here. Dr. Shari Barkin
“Exposure to Recreation Center Increases Use by Latino Families with Young Children” In her Salud America! pilot research project, Dr. Shari Barkin of Vanderbilt University Medical Center assessed how exposure to a community recreation center affects whether Latino families with young children use the center for physical activity. This assessment was conducted one year after families participated in a culturally-relevant healthy-lifestyles program at the center. Key preliminary findings include: programmed exposure to a ...
