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Smoking Remains a Serious Problem in Latino Community



Latinos generally have lower rates of smoking than other racial/ethnic groups with the exception of Asian Americans. However, smoking remains a continuing and serious problem in the Latino community. Get all the key facts on Latino smoking from the American Lung Association. And if you're a Latino who is thinking about quitting smoking, be sure to check out the Buena Vida health magazine in English or Spanish that tells the stories of five Latinos and how they kicked the habit and what it meant for their lives. The Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind Salud Today, produced the magazine and other tobacco prevention ...

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NCLR Launches 12-Part Series to Address Latino Nutrition



The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., has introduced the third edition of its "Profiles of Latino Health" series, titled Profiles of Latino Health: A Closer Look at Child Nutrition. The 12-part weekly series examines critical factors affecting Latino children’s nutrition, including trends in hunger and obesity, as well as family access to healthy foods and other resources that play important roles in children’s nutritional outcomes. “Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that obesity rates—already alarmingly high—have increased yet again. The nation is also experiencing unprecedented rates of hunger, particularly in the wake of an economic crisis that ...

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‘Insider’ Training Program to Increase Number of Latino Researchers Studying Latino Cancer



Question: Who might have insider information about Latinos that would pave the way for novel studies of cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic issues to prevent Latinos from suffering worse cancer outcomes? Answer: A cancer researcher who also is a Latino. To that end, the new Latino Training Program for Cancer Control Research (LTPCCR), led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio thanks to a new five-year, $1.57-million grant from the National Cancer Institute, aims to motivate Latinos to get their doctoral degree and become “insider researchers” in the field of cancer control among Latinos. Right now, few Latinos pursue doctoral degrees or cancer research careers, causing a gap in the amount of ...

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IHPR’s Dr. Ramirez Named to Prestigious ‘Council of Experts’ on Cancer Prevention



Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, has been named to a prestigious Council of Experts to help achieve the goals of the National Call to Action on Cancer Prevention and Survivorship. The National Call to Action (NCTA) was unveiled in 2008 by cyclist and cancer prevention activist Lance Armstrong and four former U.S. Surgeon Generals—Drs. Antonia C. Novello, Joycelyn Elders, David Satcher and Richard H. Carmona—to outline a battle plan in the new war on cancer. The NCTA also serves as a roadmap for cancer survivors, health care professionals, policymakers, employers, educators, insurers, and scientists to identify the best strategies for cancer ...

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Just the Facts: Obesity Among Latino Youths



Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has updated its Overweight and Obesity Among Latino Youths fact sheets, which highlights the prevalence, consequences and causes of overweight and obesity among Latino youths, in both English and Spanish. While childhood obesity has increased significantly throughout the general population, children from minority communities have been disproportionately affected. Sharply higher rates of overweight and obesity have occurred among Latino, African-American and Native American children and adolescents. We at SaludToday hope you read the fact sheet and get motivated to do something about ...

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Latinos, Get More Obesity News in Spanish from RWJF



The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has launched its Multicultural Newsroom, a dynamic online resource that aims to provide extensive health-related information for anyone involved in improving the health and health care of African-Americans and Latinos in the U.S. Through a multicultural lens and bilingual messaging, the site presents information, images and videos on the RWJF work under way in African-American and Latino communities across the country, such as: Profiles of key leaders, programs and projects that RWJF supports in these communities RWJF news releases, fact sheets and research findings that are of particular relevance to African-Americans and Latinos. Speeches, commentary and discussion by RWJF leaders and experts on issues such as disparities in health ...

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Texans, You Can Weigh in on Obesity-Reduction Efforts



The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is seeking input related to the current landscape of obesity research, policy and systems change, and prevention and control programs in Texas; and what unique role CPRIT could have in addressing the obesity burden. Texas adults are the 15th-most obese in the nation and 40% of Texas children are overweight or obese, which can lead to serious health concerns and increased health care costs. Obesity is a multi-faceted problem and will require a comprehensive, collaborative systems change approach involving families, workplaces, schools, communities, organizations, business and industry, academic institutions, and local and state governments. Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino ...

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Last Chance to Weigh in on Ideas to Reverse Childhood Obesity Epidemic



More P.E. classes in schools? Taxes on snacks and sodas? The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is issuing a last call for suggestions on the best ways to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. Share your thoughts in RWJF’s online forum, where our program officers are leading discussions about ensuring nutritious foods in schools, building more sidewalks and bike lanes, restricting food marketing, and unlocking school gyms and blacktops for community use outside of school hours. Give us your two cents before the forum ends this Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. More than 100 comments have been posted so far, with the topic of physical fitness in schools attracting the liveliest discussion. But what about other strategies, such as: Making certain foods and drinks cheaper—fruits, ...

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Get Involved in the Fight Against Latino Cancer



Here are some ways you can get involved in the fight against cancer: Join Redes En Acción You're invited to join Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network and become part of a nationwide effort to fight cancer among Latinos. Redes, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute and directed by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of SaludToday and the Institute of Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, has spent 10 years reducing Latino cancer. Redes has generated more than $200 million in funding for cancer research, trained more than 200 students and professionals and conducted more than 2,000 community education events and developed bilingual educational materials. Join a Cancer Clinical Trial The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has a ...

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