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 ...
A new report highlights Latino childhood obesity challenges and potential solutions that were discussed at the 2nd Annual Scientific Summit of Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children. The summit, from Sept. 22-24, 2010, in San Antonio, showcased the innovative Latino childhood obesity research being done by the program's 20 pilot investigators. The investigators, from 11 states around the nation, presented the progress they’ve made on their two-year, $75,000 pilot projects to the audience of 75 of their peers and experts in the field. “I have to tell you, we’re very excited about the impact our pilot investigators are making,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America!, which is led by the ...
Childhood obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the nation, especially among Latinos. About 20% of Latino children between ages 12-19 are obese, compared to 18% of all American children. "You can say it's the main problem facing our community," said Dr. Felipe Lobelo, who specializes in nutrition, physical activity, and obesity at the CDC. "Unfortunately, we (Hispanics) are among the groups with the highest rates of obesity in both adults and children, and we have to do something about it." Dr. Lobelo offered these tips to help parents get started on preventing obesity: 1) Eat more fruits and vegetables. Eating fruits and vegetables is essential to fighting childhood obesity. Parents and guardians can add fruits to their kids' diet by chopping them up and ...
Dr. Shari Barkin, a grantee of Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Nework to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children and a Vanderbilt University pediatric researcher, has been awarded a new $12 million NIH project, “Growing Right Onto Wellness (GROW): Changing Early Body Mass Index (BMI).” The seven-year project, which teams Vanderbilt’s Department of Pediatrics with Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation, will bring 600 families to their neighborhood park facilities and provide a curriculum specially designed to fit a variety of ethnic groups. The project was one of four funded through the NIH’s $49.5 million Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research (COPTR) program, which is among the first long-term obesity prevention and treatment ...
Check out this latest news and research in the epidemic of childhood obesity among Latinos: Texas: Girl Scouts involved in research project to promote physical activity
To identify ways to get Latinas ages 11-14 moving more, Girl Scouts in South Texas are using Photovoice, in which community members use images to share their perspectives on issues to spark change. The project is part of a larger study led by The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Arizona: Kids in lower-income families battling obesity
Southern Arizona children are suffering from adult afflictions, and doctors blame it on a troubling surge in childhood obesity. Lifestyle, diet, genetics, and population growth among Hispanics, an at-risk group, all are contributing to the rise. But ...
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has released a report, the Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, which recommends ways to improve nutrition and physical activity, include school wellness policies, reduce junk food marketing to children and support walking and biking infrastructure. Yet the report hasn't gotten the same media hype as when First Lady Michelle Obama made it her personal goal to fight against childhood obesity (earlier this week, the first lady met with lawmakers on the issue). But the surgeon general's report has merit, says a Washington Post blogger:
...[the report] talks about personal responsibility, about communities working together, about grassroots efforts. It places the onus for weight loss squarely on the shoulders of individuals. ...
