With literally more than a million cancer cases a year in the U.S., the special emotional needs of children of adult cancer patients are sometimes overlooked. That's why Camp Kesem, a national nonprofit program, created a college-student-run summer camp for kids with a parent who has or has had cancer. The one-week camps give kids ages 6-13 a chance to have a fun-filled week and "just be kids" and get extra attention and support, according the group's website. Since 2001, Camp Kesem has grown from a single camp to 37 active chapters in 22 states. Camp Kesem Berkeley (Calif.), for example, supports children in the Greater Bay Area and Tri-Valley area by putting on a completely free week-long overnight summer camp for children and teens (ages 6-16) who have a parent that either has or ...
Salud America! pilot researcher Dr. Nelda Mier documented a lack of sidewalks, street lights and parks along the poverty-stricken Texas-Mexico border—an environment that she found contributes to obesity and sedentary behavior among Latino children. But this story doesn’t end with just research results. To change the local environment to make it easier to engage in physical activity, Dr. Mier—armed with lessons from Salud America! on how to promote research-based policy change—brought her project research results to community leader and policy advocate Anne Williams Cass. The research helped guide advocacy efforts of local organizations dedicated to affordable housing, including Cass’ Proyecto Azteca, which plans to communicate with Texas legislators about the need ...
About 80% of American voters favor national standards that would limit calories, fat and sodium in snack and à la carte foods sold in U.S. schools and encourage the consumption of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy items, according to a new poll. The poll was commissioned by the Kids' Safe & Healthful Foods Project, a joint project of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Check out this brief video that explains the impact these foods and beverages can have on kids' health and how policymakers are trying to make sure schools provide kids with healthy foods and ...
Liver cancer rates among South Texas Latinos are higher than in other U.S. Latinos, as are their rates of obesity and diabetes—and the relationships between these ailments are being mapped by researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. In a study published April 18, 2012, in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers looked at overall liver cancer rates among U.S. Latinos and compared this to a Texas sample and a South Texas subset from 1995-2006. They also compared prevalence among Latinos of lifestyle-associated factors that contribute to liver cancer: heavy alcohol use, smoking, obesity and diabetes. They found that from 1995 to 2006, annual age-adjusted liver cancer incidence ...
A new National Institutes of Health website, NIH Clinical Research Trials and You, is designed to help people learn about clinical trials and how they can participate. The resource, offered in English and Spanish, answers basic questions such as What are clinical trials and why do people participate? and What do I need to know if I am thinking about participating? In addition, the website offers volunteer stories, researcher stories and educational resources. You can also get help finding a clinical ...
Forty years ago, nearly half of all students walked or biked to school. Now, only 14 percent do. Why the change? One major factor is school siting, the decisions school leaders make about where to build or rehabilitate schools. Over the past several decades, schools have increasingly been built on the outskirts of communities, too far from children’s homes for walking or biking to be practical. Meanwhile, obesity rates in children and adolescents have more than tripled, and a third of children are overweight or obese. Locating schools closer to where families live can make it easier for kids to walk and bike to school—and more convenient for families to use school fields and other facilities after hours, when school is closed. When it comes to ethnicity and socioeconomic ...
Nearly a third of U.S. kids and adolescents are overweight or obese, especially minority groups, including Latinos. Many are urged to get more exercise but can’t follow this advice very easily where they live. Schools, for instance, have many recreational facilities—gyms, soccer fields, tracks, basketball courts, playgrounds, even swimming pools—but they keep them closed after hours due to security, liability and maintenance concerns. But communities around the country are resolving these issues through what’s known as a joint use agreement: a written contract between a school district and, usually, a city agency, spelling out a formal arrangement that lets the two share the costs and maintenance and liability responsibilities. Playing Smart is a new nuts-and-bolts ...
Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series that will highlight the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s work in Latino communities across the country. On May 5, 2012, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) will team up to provide Hispanic media with an in-depth look at a health care issue that’s key to the Latino community. The panel discussion, “Reflection in the Mirror: Latino leaders inspire young Hispanics to see themselves in the health and health care field,” will address the importance of diversifying this country’s health and health care fields. Prominent Latinos will detail their respective journeys and the importance of having health professionals reflect the communities in which they ...
Community recreation centers that develop culturally tailored programs that invite Latino families inside can increase sustained use of the center for physical activity in this population at heightened risk for childhood obesity, according to a new study in Childhood Obesity. Living near community recreation centers (CRC) is associated with increases in adolescent and adult physical activity. However, the efficacy of efforts to increase use among Latino parents and children is unknown. So researchers, led by Dr. Shari Barkin, a Vanderbilt University researcher and grantee of Salud America!, compared 66 Latino parent–child pairs who had participated in a culturally tailored healthy lifestyle program at a community recreation center and completed a 12-month follow-up ...
