Two years ago, Seattle city leaders passed a 1.75-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, aiming to reduce consumption of these unhealthy products that contribute to obesity. The tax accomplished its goal – and then some – experts say. Sales of soda, juice, and other sugary drinks dropped by 22% since the soda tax, according to a new study led by Dr. Lisa Powell of the University of Illinois at Chicago. A second study from Powell also found that total sales of added-sugar foods and drinks fell almost 20%, driven largely by the decline in sugary drink purchases. "Our studies show that even after accounting for potential substitution behaviors, like cross-border shopping or selection of other items with added sugars, these taxes have a large, sustained impact on reducing volume ...
Next year in New Orleans, kids won’t be able to order a Coke off the kids menu in restaurants. On Jan. 6, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that will require restaurants to serve water, milk, or fruit juice with kids meals, according to New Orleans Public Radio. While the ordinance faced some pushback from the soft drink beverage industry, supporters believe this new rule will make a difference in preventing childhood obesity.
What Does the Ordinance Say about Soft Drinks on Kids Menus?
The city health department pitched the ordinance to remove soft drinks and make healthier options as the default beverages on kids menus. New Orleans City Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen put it to a vote. “This is really about helping our young people to stay ...
Young Latino kids drink too many sugary fruit drinks. Unfortunately, sugary fruit drinks that claim to be natural are often just fruit-flavored beverages that have added sugar and are just as unhealthy as soda. This is a contributing factor to the high rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular issues that Latino kids often face. That’s why there’s a new toolkit called “The Truth About Fruit Drinks” from researchers at the University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, and Interlex Communications with support from Healthy Eating Research and the Arcora Foundation. “This toolkit contains an evidence-based social media messaging campaign for countering beverage industry marketing and decreasing the purchase of fruit drinks by Latino ...
Avocados are a key part of a nutritious diet for Latino families, according to new research from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Researchers compared Latinos families who consumed a few avocados (three per week) and families who consumed a lot of avocados (14 per week) along with a standard nutrition intervention over six months. Latino families who ate more avocados reported consuming fewer calories, saturated fats, and sodium, which are major contributors to obesity among Latinos. They also had healthier hearts in terms of structure and function “Recent trials have focused on individuals, primarily adults, and limited to changes in cardiometabolic disease blood markers. ...
New data from the American Heart Association shows that Latinos who eat healthily have healthier hearts. This research shows that Latinos who followed a healthy dietary plan had healthier hearts in terms of structure and function. “Healthy diet quality is an important and vital tool in the prevention of heart disease,” said lead study author David Flomenbaum, a medical student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. “Many of our results correspond to current knowledge about diet quality and cardiovascular health.”
The Study and Its Findings on Healthy Eating and Heart Health Researchers evaluated over 1,800 participants in the “Echocardiographic Study of Latinos” ancillary study. With this, they compared adherence to two popular healthy ...
This week is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. This observance emphasizes the need to stop youths from smoking or help them quit smoking. One thing that is working is flavored tobacco bans or restrictions. "Policies that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco have the potential to curb youth tobacco use in as few as 6 months," according to a recent study from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and RAND Corporation. Let's explore how leaders are addressing youth use of flavored tobacco products.
What Did a Massachusetts Study Reveal about Flavored Tobacco Bans?
A 2019 Massachusetts and RAND Corporation study evaluated the short-term impact of a flavored tobacco restriction policy on youth access to, and use of, flavored tobacco products in Lowell, ...
In the last 30 years, maternal health disparities have increased for women of color, according to a new report by the US Commission on Civil Rights. For example, There are 10.3 deaths per 100,000 for Latina women. For white women there are only 6 deaths per 100,000. Moreover, Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die than their white peers from pregnancy-related complications. The report also illustrates how government, especially federal government, can play a critical role in changing this fact, according to Norma V. Cantú, chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “[At the federal level] efforts can be made to improve hospital quality, particularly for women of color if maternal health disparities are to be eliminated,” Cantú said. “Improvements in safety ...
California can no longer punish cities for enacting sugary drink taxes, as per an October 2021 court ruling that declared the penalty provision of the state’s Keep Groceries Affordable Act of 2018 unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Cultiva La Salud and supported by ChangeLab Solutions and the American Heart Association. The implications of the ruling are widespread throughout the state. Charter cities, which include many of the largest cities in the state, can consider taxes that aim to reduce purchases of sugary drinks and help community nutrition with the revenue without the fear of punishment. Before this, the state could penalize a charter city that enacted a tax on sugary drinks by depriving the city of its sales tax revenues. Sales taxes often account for ...
Hip hop artist Chuck D, one of the founding members of Public Enemy, once urged people of color to “Fight the Power.” Now he’s urging them to fight cancer. Chuck D wants people to “check your behind” and get screened for colon cancer as part of a new public service announcement (PSA) from Stand Up to Cancer / Unidos Contra El Cancer, a charitable fundraiser for cancer research. DJ and poet Pete Colon sings the same musical message in a Spanish-language PSA. In another PSA video, actress Uzo Abuda urges people of color to join clinical trials. “Hip-hop has a powerful voice and we’re using it to help make the community better, to try to get people to pay attention, to stay healthy and to catch things early instead of reading about it when it’s too late,” said ...
