Steve Long knows the mission of the Children's Museum of the East End is to spark imagination, play, and learning for all children in Bridgehampton, N.Y. (21% Latino). But the museum has risen to a new level under Long's leadership as executive director. It has become a Latino community hub. Long and the museum leaders host an afterschool science program for Spanish-speaking students. They partnered to host "safe space" workshops for Latino immigrants. They helped start an eight-week music program to enhance Spanish-speakers' literacy skills. They even added a mini-golf course with science-based facts in English and Spanish. "[The museum] is having a lifelong impact on the development of Latino children and their families through these programs," Long said.
The ...
London will ban advertisements for unhealthy food on public transportation in February 2019, as a publicly approved way to reduce rising obesity rates. Other cities can use the ban as a model.
London Obesity
London has one of the highest childhood overweight and obesity rates in Europe. Of children ages 10 and 11, more than 37% are overweight or obese. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is particularly concerned because children living in deprived neighborhoods are almost twice as likely to be overweight. “It’s completely unacceptable that in a city as prosperous as London, where you live and the amount you earn can have a massive impact on whether you have access to healthy, nutritious food,” the mayor said in a press release. “I’m determined to change this.” He is ...
Nationwide, 20.6% of Latino youth and 22.5% of Black youth have obesity compared to 12.5% of white youth, according to a new data report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The new data feature obesity rates among youth ages 10-17 nationally and from each state from the 2016 and 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), along with analysis conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Five states have Latino youth obesity rates over 30%. No states have White youth obesity rates over that mark. “Far too many young people in this country are facing increased chances of diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, all due to a preventable condition … black and Latino youth are still more likely ...
Latino kids are already at a big disadvantage to achieve a healthy weight. They lack opportunities to engage in physical activity and they often live in a food swamp and/or a food desert. Now, household cleaners may also contribute to the obesity crisis. Multi-surface disinfectants and other household cleaners can be making children overweight, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The study suggested that these cleaners alter gut bacteria, specifically Lachnospiraceae. Lachnospiraceae is a family of gut bacteria and are a normal component of our gut microbiota. This family develops during infancy when we gain a greater number of bacterial species, in which, each species decreases or increases over time.
About The Study
The study used ...
Goodbye, boring health fairs. Hello, block parties for health. City leaders and health advocates in Wilmington, Del. (12.2% Latino), will host about 30 block parties this summer to promote family time, play, and neighborhood health in areas with high rates of obesity, diabetes, and cancer, delawareonline reports. The block parties, called "Play Street," will take place from June through August. They're part of the New Castle Healthy Neighborhoods program made possible by a federal grant. At each block party, officials block off a part of the streets so families can partake in activities like basketball and jump rope. Healthy snacks and drinks will be on tap. Health screenings will be available. But no more than two health info booths will be set up. "We want kids to ...
We know “food swamps” are linked to obesity. We also know Latinos often live in food swamps─where people lack access to healthy foods and have lots of nutrition-poor food options. For example, many Latino neighborhoods lack supermarkets but have abundant fast-food, according to a Salud America! Research Review. Now a recent study shows how Latina mothers deal with life in food swamps.
Latina Moms & Food Swamps
The George Washington University study sought to understand how mothers who lived in Washington, D.C., food swamps feed their children. The mothers were Latina and had been in the Unites States for less than 15 years. Each mother had at least one child younger than 10. Latina mothers valued foods that they considered to be traditional and healthy, ...
After seven long years, the FDA’s rules for menu labeling have finally taken effect. This is big news for Latino families in particular. These families face less access to healthy food options and struggle with higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and certain diseases than non-Latinos, according to a Salud America! research review. Menu labeling can help Latino and all families make healthier eating choices through clear, easy-to-use nutrition information at the point of ordering. So how did we get here, and how will menu labeling affect families?
How’d We Get Menu Labeling?
The FDA first proposed menu labeling rules in 2011. After years of tweaking, menu labeling rules had to overcome one final hurdle in 2017. FDA sought public comments on a possible one-year-delay of ...
Latino kids are heavily targeted by junk food and sugary drink marketing. The food industry even dresses up unhealthy options with ad visuals of nutrition and physical activity. Marketing to kids is a big public health issue. That’s why it’s important to check out new policy changes aimed at reducing unhealthy food and drink marketing, compiled in a brief from the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Kate Bratskeir of Mic also recently imagined a world with no junk food marketing to kids, suggesting other key ways to reduce such marketing. “Without change in advertising regulations, parents alone will struggle to raise children unaffected by food marketing,” writes Bratskeir.
Current Regulations in Other Countries
Bratskeir examined how some countries ...
The USDA wants your opinion to shape the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans! The guidelines aim to help people choose an overall healthy diet. They have specific nutritional targets and dietary limits for children (ages 2-18), adults (19-64), and older adults (65 and older). Now, for the first time, the guidelines will cover pregnant women and babies (birth to age 2). What do you think the guidelines should recommend? How does it impact Latinos? Speak up! Copy a model public comment developed by our Salud America! research team, click the "submit" button, and paste the comment in the USDA's comments submission website by March 30, 2018. Model Comment: General
I urge the USDA and HHS to create the strongest possible Dietary Guidelines to ensure that all kids, parents, ...
