Farmers’ markets are a great place to find fresh fruits and vegetables when your local grocery store doesn’t sell them. But when your neighborhood doesn’t have a farmers’ market OR a local grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables—are you just out of luck? Find out how Michelle Griego, a school teacher-turned healthy food leader, was inspired by her friend to start a farmers’ market in her neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas, so neighbors could not only have better access to fresh fruits and vegetables, but learn how to cook tasty dishes that make healthy eating a delicious way of life.
No Farmer's Market in Your Town?
Awareness: As a computer teacher at an elementary school in San Antonio, Texas, Michelle Griego watches kids choose chips over carrots ...
Middle-school students in the FreeWheels for Kids program are learning what it means to be leaders for healthy change. By bringing bike clubs to various schools and facilities across Kansas City, this nonprofit is helping kids have fun and stay active, while teaching them how to fix bikes, build nature trails, and to voice their desire for a bike friendly community with bike-friendly streets.
The Need for More Physical Activity Options in the Community
Awareness: Benjamin Alexander was already an avid bicyclist when he started working at a local community center, where he mentored kids in Kansas City, Kan., which is 28% Latino. “I rode my bike to work every day,” Alexander said. At the community center in spring 2011, he was fixing his bike when a middle-school student ...
Learn more about examples and resources on how to increase access to green space for kids at the #SaludTues Tweetchat at noon CT (1 p.m. ET) Tuesday, November 11, 2014.You're invited to share your resources, stories, and questions, too! The chat is co-hosted by Salud America!, The Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living and the Children and Nature Network (via @SaludAmerica, @ChildrenNature & @msdcenter): WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “How to Bring More Green Space to Neighborhoods”
DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014
TIME: Noon CST (1:00 PM ET)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: @ChildrenNature @msdcenter Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter/X and share your stories and ...
What good is physical activity if you fuel up with junk food and sugary drinks? One leader in Arlington County, Va., realized that the absence of healthy drink and snack options at parks and public buildings was sending an unclear message to the community about the importance of proper nutrition for an active lifestyle. With overwhelming community support, he drove good-for-you options into vending machines in county-owned property and local schools. This created places that weave both nutrition and physical activity into the fabric of neighborhood health.
The Lack of Healthy Food in the Neighborhood
Families in Arlington County, Va., come from many backgrounds. Walter Tejada, an Arlington County Board Member and two-time County Board chair, moved to the U.S. from El Salvador ...
Kids in East Harlem (El Barrio) were in great need of physical activity programing and safe places to play. Alex Sabater and Deborah Quinones wanted to change that so they teamed up to create Young Bucks Sports, a non-profit aimed at preventing childhood obesity through teaching the sport and tradition of stickball to youth. Now Young Bucks Sports offers multiple activities to youth in Harlem for free, including: a summer stickball institute, pop-up playgrounds, a march to prevent obesity, and an annual festival with activities aimed at preventing obesity in the community.
The Physical Inactivity and Obesity Crisis
Awareness: Alex Sabater loves stickball and loves to share the same with others in New York City (NYC). The game is a modified version of baseball that uses a ...
Sugary drinks are a large component of added calories in the American diet. Many kids have increased their consumption of sugary drinks—such as soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and flavored milk—between 1991 and 2008, research shows. In Contra Costa, Calif., where 24% of the population is Latino, one of every three kids from low-income families are overweight or obese. A county organization worked with an advertising agency to develop a bilingual social marketing campaign, called Sugar Bites, to urge parents to choose water for their kids instead of sugary drinks.
The Issue of Sugary Drinks and Obesity
Awareness: First 5 California is a state organization funded by Proposition 10, a statewide ballot initiative passed in 1998, to conduct health and ...
What happens when a school district’s wellness policy doesn’t cover student sports games or other after-school events? In one district in San Antonio, where about 63% of the residents are Latino, a school board president drove a policy change to implement healthier menu options at concession stands during school-sanctioned after-school events. With the support of various school officials, parents, and students, the new menu extends the district’s already-strong wellness policy to after-school hours and allows healthier items for students and parents.
The Issue of Healthy School Concession Food
Awareness: In San Antonio, Texas, the North East Independent School District (NEISD), which has a population of about 67,000 students, of which 55 percent are Hispanic, had already ...
An abandoned alley in Lake Worth, Fla., was re-developed into an attractive greenway through team work and perseverance by a researcher, school district employee, city staff, and the community. The greenway will increase the area’s walkability and connect two neighborhoods to a nearby high school.
The Issue of Space for Physical Activity
Awareness: Dr. Ruth McCaffrey, a trained nurse and professor at Florida Atlantic University, was keenly aware that obesity was a growing concern in Lake Worth, Fla. About 30% of the city’s 35,000 residents live in poverty, and 40% are Latino—with a growing number of families migrating there from Guatemala. Several parts of town lack adequate spaces for physical activity, and the way the city was designed impedes physical activity. For ...
