Organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, The National Soda Summit 2014 will be held June 4th and 5th in Washington, D.C. At this informative, interactive conference attendees will: Learn about the latest initiatives to lower the consumption of sugar drinks
Learn about the progress that’s been made since the 2012 soda summit
Connect with other advocates, from around the country, who are working on lowering sugar-drink consumption
Leave with information they can use to begin changing policies and marketing practices in their community Want to join the conversation? Register for the summit! Salud America! will be there---come see us at our booth and learn about how you can reduce sugary drinks and promote more water-drinking in ...
Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program participants in Hall County, Ga. are working toward providing healthy snacks in all schools. “The way the Alliance does it is right on,” explained Weirs. “We didn’t have any health efforts in place at the time, and we needed to know what a healthy school should look like. The Alliance gave us the road map, the tools and the recognition. They helped us identify where we were currently, where we were we going and what incentives we needed to get there. The Alliance made it so easy.” The biggest task Weirs, as the district's Wellness Coordinator, took on was getting sugar-sweetened sports drinks out of elementary schools. Many schools are hesitant to make this change because of their fears that sales will ...
In the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions' 2013 Prevention Status Report, the percentage of Texas adults and high school students who were obese was above the national average. Many health officials point to over-consumption of sugary drinks and sodas as a large factor in the state's obesity crisis. Because Latino youth tend to drink more sugary drinks daily than their White peers, the need to reduce soda consumption is especially pressing in the Latino community. In San Antonio, TX, the Metropolitan Health District is kicking-off a new campaign designed to encourage residents to ditch sugary drinks and choose water instead. Health officials are building a marketing strategy for a 3-year campaign that uses all manner of media to raise awareness about the health risks ...
About five years ago, Clara Santos opened Olivares Food Market to serve the Philadelphia neighborhood in which she lived. Offering quick meals and grab-and-go snacks, her store was popular but had few healthy snacks. With some help from a food access organization, Santos learned that offering and promoting healthy food options is not only good for the health of her customers, but for business, too.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Olivares Food Market, a Latino-oriented corner store in South Philadelphia, owned by Clara Santos, is a lot like other similar markets in Philadelphia and across the country. That is, it lacks healthy food options and has no marketing for the few it does have. Olivares sells prepared foods—like high-calorie cheesesteaks for lunch and pancakes for breakfast—and ...
In the small, multicultural city of Lynn, Mass., minorities make up almost half the population, with Latinos making up almost a third. With obesity on the rise in the area, many groups are stepping up to make healthy changes where they live, work, and play. Local corners stores, where many kids hang out before and after school, are well-positioned to make a positive impact on kids’ food choices—if they are marketing the right foods. A group of high-school students chose one popular corner store to help promote healthy snacks and make it easier for teens to pick apples over chips—contributing to a wave of new healthy markets sweeping over Massachusetts.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: The small city of Lynn, Massachusetts gets more diverse every day. The Latino population grew from 18% to ...
Supported by the Horizon Foundation, Howard County Unsweetened has tools, resources, news, and more on how parents and their kids can swap sugary drinks for healthier alternatives. Their latest video campaign suggests that big soda companies should focus on promoting healthier beverages, like water, and not high-sugar drinks. The campaign challenges folks to rethink what marketing beverages to children should look like. Check out their latest video here! Howard County Unsweetened hosted a contest inviting high-schoolers to submit short documentaries about the problem of sugary drink consumption, and creative new ways to deal with it. They announced the winner in February 2014---watch the ...
Beginning in mid-November of 2013, the University of Michigan Health Systems will only be offering healthy beverages on their campus and in their vending. This initiative is part of their commitment of health to their community and visitors of their Hospitals, Health Centers, administrative buildings, and Medical school. The new list of approved beverages for sale and distribution includes; water, flavored or infused waters, milk, tea, 100% fruit juice, diet beverages, coffee, and sugar-free sweetened coffee drinks (sugar packets will still be offered). Things no longer offered at these locations will be; non-diet soft drinks, sweetened fruit-flavored drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas, and sweetened coffees. The inclusion of healthier beverages will go beyond the ...
After years of trying to land a new park, residents of Earlimart, Calif., can now celebrate the success of a shared use agreement and soon-to-be-built 4-acre park. 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 policy, which allows Tulare county residents from non-affiliated groups to use the school ...
What are you eating for lunch? Snack food may be the quickest—and unhealthiest—choice. In Santa Cruz County, California, a youth advocacy and 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 advocacy group seeking to increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity for Watsonville youth through implementing long-term environmental policy and system change, understands that childhood obesity is a problem for Latinos. “49% of Hispanics in this ...
