Texas (39.1% Latino population) is launching five Outdoor Learning Environment demonstration sites across the state, three of which are at early childcare centers. This is great news for many Latino students across the state. Currently, children today can spend 8-10 hours a day in childcare. However, like many Latino-majority schools, childcare facilities offer less time for kids to play and be active. As early as age four, Latino children face gaps in academic performance and disparities in obesity. Latino kids need safe places to play and be active to reduce obesity and boost academic achievement.
Naturalize Outdoor Playgrounds
Play – particularly play in nature – is critical for healthy child development. Nature supports creative problem solving, enhances cognitive ...
The streetcar is back along the Texas-Mexico border, thanks to a Latino man's brilliant "fake" ad campaign. Peter Svarzbein, an El Paso native, loved how a historic international streetcar system used to connect downtown El Paso, Texas (82.2% Latino) to downtown Cuidad Juárez, Mexico. But it closed in 1974. Today many in El Paso lack public transportation to reach places they need to go, which harms their health, educational, and employment opportunities, and the economy. So Svarzbein created a fictional, yet powerful ad campaign to simulate the return of El Paso's border-crossing streetcar for his graduate thesis project at New York's School for Visual Arts. Svarzbein's El Paso Transnational Trolley Project sparked enough curiosity and enthusiasm to create a real ...
Finding safe places for kids to play hasn't been easy for Latino families in Chicago. For example, 30 years ago, the federal government sued the Chicago Parks District for favoring parks in white neighborhoods and neglecting parks in African-American and Latino ones. Schools in Chicago didn't have equitable funding to maintain their own playgrounds over the years, either. At the same time, the nation was shifting to a school day with less time for recess—creating a "recess drought." But school officials wanted to play a role in increasing access to safe green space for Latino kids and families.
Solving the 'Recess Drought' (and Preventing Floods)
Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the nation, took a big first step in 2011. They passed a recess ...
Texas State Parks are opening new natural play areas for children and people with disabilities to play and connect with nature. Latino kids in Texas (39.1% Latino), and across the country, lack safe outdoor places to play and be active, which is known as a nature deficit disorder. Families struggle to find green space that is both fun and appropriate for all age ranges. Particularly Latino families, which are often multigenerational. Childhood development leaders, architects, educators and urban planners worked together to design plans for natural playscapes in various outdoor spaces, like state parks, local parks, zoos, and botanical gardens to better engage kids and families with nature. Natural playscapes are designed to be built using natural materials and include boulders, ...
Latinos have made great strides in education in recent years, with more enrolling two- and four-year colleges and universities than ever before. Despite these gains, there is still a significant gap between Latinos and other racial and ethnic minorities in obtaining college degrees. Many universities around the country are coming up with new and innovative approaches to not only increase the enrollment of Latino students, but to also help them succeed when they get on campus. In all, 492 campuses in 19 states and Puerto Rico have been designated Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which allows them to apply for about $100 million annually in federal research grants. For the University of California – Irvine campus, these strategies have begun to pay off. The Irvine (10.05% ...
Did you know San Antonio (67% Latino) is the first U.S. city to conduct a citywide scavenger hunt for free health, wellness, and physical activity events? It’s called Fit Pass. You can pick up a pass or download a bilingual Fit Pass app to earn points by attending cool summer wellness activities, starting with a free 5K run and fitness expo at Pearsall Park on Saturday, June 10, 2017. You can earn points and prizes throughout the seven-week program that concludes with another free 5K at LBJ Park on Saturday, July 29, 2017. The origin of Fit Pass is featured in a new Rivard Report article and Salud Heroes video and story by Amanda Merck of Salud America!, a national Latino healthy weight promotion network based at UT Health San Antonio and funded by Robert Wood Johnson ...
We shouldn’t have to shake up our daily routines to get the mental and physical benefits of physical activity. But for Latino families, physical activity often isn't a daily norm. In fact, Latino-majority schools provide less time for recess and P.E., and Latino neighborhoods have fewer places to walk and play, Salud America! research shows. Let's use #SaludTues on May 23, 2017, to tweet about partnerships, programs, policy changes, and infrastructure that can help Latinos and everyone move more and sit less in the places where we live, learn, work, play, pray, and retire. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Active Living Programs, Policy Changes, and Infrastructure Improvements”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 23, 2017
WHERE: On Twitter with ...
Eggs are sometimes called “nature’s miracle food.” The are found in nearly every culture’s diet around the world, and for good reason. Eggs are versatile to cook with. They are high in protein and nutrients, one of the few food sources of Vitamin D, and pretty tasty! Are Eggs Good for You? Over the years, debate has raged about the true health value of eggs, mainly due to being high in dietary cholesterol (which is found in the yolks). However, eggs are low in saturated fat, which is the bigger culprit when it comes to raising blood cholesterol levels. Because of these facts, eggs have been given the proverbial “thumbs up” from the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans by Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. WebMd's Dr. Kathleen M. Zelman says ...
Are you interested in changing people's health outcomes through programs, policy changes, and infrastructure improvements? Check out the inaugural Active Living Summit hosted by Movement Makers in Richmond, VA, May 17-19, 2017. We will be there to learn and present! Hear stories about policies changed, advocacy wins, innovative school initiatives, and more. Discover how to build play in urban environments on a playability walk. Learn more about setting expectations with the funding community and creating better tools online to support physical activity in your city. Key note speakers include: Gabe Klein, Co-founder of CityFi and former Commissioner of Chicago and Washington D.C. Departments of Transportation.
Dominique Dawes, Olympic Gold Medalist, and former Co-chair ...
