You know junk food marketing to Latino kids is a problem and degrades Latino kids' health. But how do you communicate this issue to others? A new framing brief by the Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) can help you communicate more effectively and frame the targeted marketing of junk food to children of color as a health equity issue. Understanding and communicating effectively about how junk food companies specifically target Latino children is a critical step toward action and achieving health equity.
Targeted Marketing is a Health Equity Issue
Targeted marketing of junk food to Latino children is a major obstacle because food and beverage companies aggressively target Latinos in their communities and schools. California passed historic legislation this year to ban ...
Abstract
Many Latino children are at risk of not getting the proper care, services, and environment they need for healthy formative development. Traumatic early experiences, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and low participation in preschool programs impair Latino children’s social and emotional development, academic achievement, and overall health and wellbeing. But there’s reason for hope. Culturally-sensitive programs and policies can prevent or reduce the effects of traumatic childhood experiences, improve mental health, and boost school readiness. Early childhood development and education programs, breastfeeding and family support, and Latino family values support all have been shown to promote healthy early development. Read the News Release (PDF)
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This is part of the Salud America! The State of Latino Early Childhood Development: A Research Review » Further research is needed to identify the barriers to healthy eating in Latino children and evaluate current and new strategies for improving access and adherence to a healthy diet. Studies should also aim to identify the determinants of ACEs in Latino families and evaluate interventions for preventing ACEs and/or mitigating their harmful effects. The use of administrative data, such as Medicaid claims and other service records, may be useful for these studies and may help to target prevention and early intervention for children with or at risk of ACEs. More research is needed to identify the barriers to and predictors of mental health service use among Latino youth and develop ...
This is part of the Salud America! The State of Latino Early Childhood Development: A Research Review »
The Importance of Latina Mothers
Although Latino children are generally well adjusted socially and emotionally, several factors may negatively influence their overall health and wellbeing development. These include poverty and/or large households, immigration status, the country of origin, maternal depression,1,146,147 as well as other factors like breastfeeding initiation and duration.148 Read the Salud America! research review about breastfeeding among Latina mothers.148,149 Approaches are emerging on how to address these issues. For example, mental health interventions can be made available to Latina mothers who are displaying negative thought patterns, including anxiety, ...
Research has long shown that Latino kids see a lot of unhealthy food and drink ads on TV. But now a new study shows that food companies heavily target Latino kids on the Internet, too, according to a new study from the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. What's worse, the Rudd Center also has confirmed a troubling "health halo effect." That is, when food manufactures promote good nutrition and physical activity in ads for unhealthy products, children can be misled and confuse their understanding of good health, according to researchers, via a separate study. The new findings have big implications for Latino kids, who suffer higher rates of obesity and worse health outcomes than their peers.
Targeted Online Marketing To Latino Kids
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Nutrition education—when it's accessible—can help low-income Latino and all families eat healthier. Four innovative projects used text messages, online programs, and other technologies to boost the reach and impact of nutrition education among participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) federal food assistance program. In each project, technology made nutrition education more accessible and useful. "Technology appears to have an impact on keeping our families in the program," said Dr. Shannon Whaley of UCLA, which led one of the studies. "This use of technology matters, and it is where WIC probably needs to go."
Why Is Nutrition Education a Big Deal?
Latinos tend to lack access to healthy food, according to a Salud America! Research Review. One big way ...
There are many barriers that exist that keep some Latinos from achieving the best health possible. Cultural stigmas, language barriers, and a lack of access are just some of these barriers. For Latinas, the problems can be even more frightening. Lack of insurance, lack of transportation, and even isolation are common problems that keep many Latinas from receiving medical treatment. At the Latino Community Center in Pittsburgh, PA (2.72% Latino population), has recognized this growing problem and has decided to do something about it, as reported by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Using an idea based on the promotores de salud concept, the center has recruited and trained women to become “liaisons” in heavily Latino-populated neighborhoods in the city. These liaisons will ...
We believe in grassroots changes that help families have healthy lives. That's why we at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio are proud to partner with Univision for a campaign to promote healthy change in San Antonio. The campaign will periodically feature our heroes of change on Univision 41's afternoon news and mid-day digital broadcasts, Edicion Digital. These San Antonio heroes of change, who we call Salud Heroes, are adding fruits and veggies to corner stores, creating community gardens, launching fitness programs in parks, and promoting water over sugary drinks. Our first Univision 41 segment in May 2017 featured the amazing Baby Cafe in San Antonio, which provides support and peer networking for Latina and all moms who breastfeed their babies. The hashtag ...
Did you know San Antonio (67% Latino) is the first U.S. city to conduct a citywide scavenger hunt for free health, wellness, and physical activity events? It’s called Fit Pass. You can pick up a pass or download a bilingual Fit Pass app to earn points by attending cool summer wellness activities, starting with a free 5K run and fitness expo at Pearsall Park on Saturday, June 10, 2017. You can earn points and prizes throughout the seven-week program that concludes with another free 5K at LBJ Park on Saturday, July 29, 2017. The origin of Fit Pass is featured in a new Rivard Report article and Salud Heroes video and story by Amanda Merck of Salud America!, a national Latino healthy weight promotion network based at UT Health San Antonio and funded by Robert Wood Johnson ...
