A predominantly Latino elementary school proves that morning exercise through a walking school bus program can benefit students, parents, and the community. Not only have school attendance rates increased, community engagement levels have increased, too. A Walking School Bus at Brightwood Elementary School in Springfield, Mass., now offers hope—and physical activity—to a community that not long ago faced fears of unsafe streets and high crime rates. Karen Pohlman, a nurse practitioner and community program manager for Baystate Medical Center, knew the community was struggling and wanted to improve people’s health, so she developed a plan to implement a walking school bus at Brightwood Elementary.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Crime was high in the North End of Springfield, Mass., which ...
Growing up, Dante Jones always looked forward to weekend bike rides with his father. In those rides with his dad, Jones said he learned important life lessons and experienced the beauty of the outdoors, all while getting exercise. So when his daughter, Glory, was old enough to ride a bike he decided to start a similar tradition. He hoped it would allow them to spend more quality time together and instill in her the value of living an active lifestyle and the fun of activities like biking and skating. Jones noticed that other children from the neighborhood wanted to tag along when he and his daughter would go out for bike rides. He invited them along. He started to realize that there was a lack of positive role models in the neighborhood, and also a lack of afterschool ...
San Antonio sisters Makayla Esparza, 9, and Alyssa Esparza, 8, led largely inactive lifestyles. They saw a weight-loss contest on TV and decided to get active and help others get active, but they didn’t know of any afterschool programs to join and they didn’t have anyone to be active with. This led to their big idea: invite all the kids from their neighborhood for a 90-day get fit challenge to improve. With the help of their grandmother, Dawn Guerrero, Alyssa and Makayla posted an ad on Craigslist to invite kids to be active with them. They also invited members from the fitness community to show them ways to be fit. Soon kids from all over the neighborhood started showing up, and the group “Fitness FUNatics” was born. Although their 90-day challenge is now over, the Fitness ...
The Prince George County Board of Education has decided to abolish a $50 fee, which was formerly required of high school students wanting to participate in athletics. According to an article from The Washington Post, in 2011, the board decided to charge a $50 fee to students as a way to cut back on costs. Now, in an effort to help prevent obesity, the board has decided to do away with the fee and allow middle school aged children to participate in sports like baseball, softball, basketball, and soccer. According to the Washington Post, Vice Chairman Carolyn M. Boston (District 6) said: “we heard from the community and we heard from parents who felt our obesity rate is to the point where this is what our kids need.” Changes are set to take place in August of ...
If sugar is so bad for us, why do we crave it?
"High rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease: the legacy, some experts say, of sugar." National Geographic traces our love affair with sugar back 10,000 years in the article Sugar Love (A Not So Sweet Story). Learn about sugar's journey around the world, first as a luxury item and later as a household staple, and how the sweet substance affects our bodies and our ...
Latino kids often have limited access to safe gyms, fields, and playgrounds, but shared use agreements and street-level improvements can improve access to these “active spaces” in underserved communities and may help young Latinos become more physically active and maintain a healthy weight, according to a new package of research materials from Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children. The new Salud America! “Active Spaces for Latino Kids” has a research review of the latest science, an original animated video, and an infographic. A study shows that 81 percent of Latino neighborhoods did not have a recreational facility, compared with 38 percent of White neighborhoods. Fewer schools provided public ...
Creating school food environments that support healthy eating among children is a recommended national strategy to prevent childhood obesity, and is shown to have positive effects on student behavior, development, and academic performance. To help children learn life-long healthy eating habits, researchers developed the Healthy Eating Design Guidelines for School Architecture. These guidelines provide practitioners in architecture and public health as well as school system administrators with a practical set of spatially organized and theory-based strategies for making school environments more conducive to learning about and practicing healthy eating behaviors. Watch how the Buckingham Elementary School redesign project in Dillwyn, Va., used the tool to improve its ability to ...
Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2012 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by April 1, 2013, for the 2013 Èxito! program. Melawhy Garcia
Anaheim, Calif. Melawhy Garcia was just 17 when her mother was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure and colon cancer—unfortunately giving her firsthand knowledge of the income, insurance and other barriers faced by Latino cancer patients. Since then, Garcia has put cancer in her crosshairs. Garcia already has helped conduct research and awareness on cervical cancers and other health conditions prevalent among Latinos. She emphasizes research on cancer prevention, obesity and more in her current position as the assistant director of the California State University, Long Beach, National Council ...
The 2012 International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, set for May 23-26, 2012, in Austin, Texas, is a unique opportunity to learn about behavioral nutrition and physical activity, interact with a broad constituency of leaders, and gain new insight into innovations in research, policy and practice. Register here. See a list of key speakers and special features here. Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, is an event sponsor. Salud America! is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Salud America! Director Dr. Amelie Ramirez is chairing two sessions: Environmental Determinants of Nutrition in Latinos (featuring ...
