A new obesity management program will use family counseling, text messages and newsletters to control weight and spark healthier eating and physical activity habits in obese/overweight kids, thanks to a five-year $2.9 million federal grant awarded to researchers at the UT Health San Antonio. Researchers will develop and test the six-month program among 230 child-parent pairs in three pediatric clinics of the University Health System. Half the child-parent pairs will get in-clinic counseling on how to make healthy changes. The other half will get the same in-clinic counseling—plus phone counseling and culturally tailored text messages and newsletters to reinforce changes suggested through counseling. “We believe kids in the more intensive group will significantly ...
Northgate González Market has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The family-owned and operated California-based grocery store chain, originally founded by people Jalisco in 1980, went from one 2,500-square-foot store to now 42 stores located throughout Southern California. Despite Northgate’s success, its owners have not forgotten their origins. They seek to offer high-quality products and improve the quality of life for the local community through their Viva la Salud! Program, which includes bilingual healthy food labels and an entire marketing program aimed at helping customers make wise food-purchasing decisions as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Issue of Unhealthy Local Food
Awareness: Victor González, Senior VP of Marketing at González Northgate Markets, a ...
If you’ve ever dreamed of making a difference in your community (or if you’re a kid who doesn’t mind getting a little dirty), then you’ll want to hear about the amazing mud run program, Mile Strong Kids by Fred Bailon and John Soto.
Bailon and Soto, two elementary-school teachers in San Antonio, Texas, organized a one-day mud run to start “standing up to obesity.” The event was so surprisingly successful that it led to the formation of a running club and non-profit group to organize mud runs all over town.
Obesity Spurs a Big Idea
Fred Bailon and John Soto are teachers at W.Z. “Doc” Burke Elementary School in San Antonio, Texas. About 87% of Burke students are Latino and 82.3% of the school’s population face economic issues, according to the Texas ...
Alicia Gonzalez, a young leader with experience in community development, was eager to keep kids stay active, given the rise of local obesity. She partnered up with a local family foundation who wanted to start a running program. The result was Chicago Run, a non-profit incentive based program which has promoted running to over 13,000 children.
The Need for More Physical Activity for Children
Awareness: Chicago resident Alicia Gonzalez enjoys improving the quality of life in her community. She has experience teaching youth about AIDS, mentoring kids in Boston, and building private-sector partnerships to better people’s lives through asset-based community development (ABCD)—an approach to community development that emphasizes a community’s assets rather than its ...
I recently had the privilege of attending and presenting my Susan G. Komen-funded research on boosting breast cancer survivorship through Patient Navigation at the 5th International Cancer Control Congress (ICCC) on Nov. 3-6, 2013, in Lima, Peru. As a member of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board, I was excited to be among the more than 400 health researchers and community leaders from throughout the world came together for this important meeting. Dr. Simon Sutcliffe of Vancouver, Canada, president of the ICCC and chair of the international steering committee, cited five key drivers for the group: improving human development;
mobilizing a societal response to reduce cancer and other non-communicable diseases;
improving population health;
improving cancer treatment, ...
Kids at Westwood Elementary School in Houston lacked programs to keep them active after classes ended each day.
Samuel Karns, a health fitness instructor/coach at Westwood, decided to step up to the challenge and find a way to bring more exercise and sport related activities to keep his students moving.
His work resulted in a series of afterschool fitness clubs, an afterschool intermural sports program, a student-led school health advisory council (K-SHAC) for elementary-school students, an action based learning lab and a one-of-a-kind district-wide initiative to bring physical activity to sixth-graders. The Issue of Physical Inactivity and Obesity
Awareness: In fall 2009, Samuel Karns was only a few months into his job as a health fitness instructor/coach at Westwood Elementary ...
Residents living in the small rural community of Earlimart, Calif., lacked outdoor spaces for the physical activity they needed to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles and weights.
The Earlimart School District’s superintendent responded to this need by trying an experiment. She had the custodial staff at one school leave the school gate open. Word got around that the school’s gate had been left open—soon the school’s field was filled with local residents.
This experiment ultimately led to a change in the school district’s rule, which allows Tulare county residents from non-affiliated groups to use the school yard at Earlimart Middle School.
The story does not end here; once residents realized the difference a place to play could make in improving the health of the ...
What are you eating for lunch? Snack food may be the quickest—and unhealthiest—choice. In Santa Cruz County, California, a youth leadership group called Jóvenes SANOS knew that their neighborhood needed to incorporate more healthy food options into daily life. That means healthy food even at bus stations.
Health in San Cruz County
Latinos comprise about 81% of the 50,000 people who live in Watsonville, Calif., which is situated in Santa Cruz County. Jóvenes SANOS, a youth leadership group seeking to increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity for Watsonville youth through implementing long-term change, understands that childhood obesity is a problem for all people. “[Half of people] in this community…are likely to eat fast food 1 to 3 times a ...
Having limited resources, partnerships and community involvement played a key role in transforming old train tracks into the Belden Trail in West Brownsville, Texas. A physician-turned-city-leader worked with community leaders and discussed ways to improve the quality of life for residents living in a part of the city that lacks spaces for physical activity. The team’s persistence and belief in how this trail could transform the community helped them secure a statewide rails-to-trails grant. But the story doesn’t end there. Recently, the city added ADA approved sidewalks leading to nearby bus stops, developed a master hike and bike plan, and is planning for a community garden. Through teamwork and dedication to an important cause, permanent improvements and healthy changes can ...
