Kids were fed up with the effect of sugary drinks on people's health in the small mountain town of Lafayette, Colorado (16% Latino). They pushed city leaders for change, and scored a big victory in October 2017 when the Lafayette City Council voted 5-1 for an ordinance to require all local restaurants to offer only milk and water with kids’ meals. This means that kids will no longer see enticing pictures of sodas or juices as an option on kid's menus. The city is the fifth U.S. city, and the first outside of California, with such an ordinance. However, this isn't an outright ban on sugary drinks. Parents can ask for a sugary drink with their child’s meal, and restaurants can meet that request.
Youth Speak Up for Healthier Generations
The ordinance is a huge success ...
Alma Galvez was sick of seeing a growing number of overweight Latino child patients at her clinic in Minneapolis, Minn. (10.5% Latino population). In her job as a community health worker for St. Mary’s Health Clinics in Minnesota, Galvez was able to pinpoint a big culprit—sugary drinks. Galvez and Shannon Gavin, the organization’s coordinator of family health programs, wanted to reduce sugary drink consumption among Latino child patient and families. So they jumped head-first at the chance to work with state health officials to create a bilingual, culturally relevant campaign to urge Latino families to rethink their drink.
Sugar’s Stranglehold on Latino Health Galvez and Gavin are big players in how St Mary’s Health Clinics serves its large minority and ...
Classic water fountains aren't always accessible or safe for kids. Water Bottle Fountains are filtered water dispensers for easily filling and refilling water bottles. This gives kids much-needed access to safe drinking water throughout the school day. They help keep kids hydrated while saving families money from buying bottled water. They also help the environment by reducing waste. Salud America! wants to help you get Water Bottle Fountains at your school with our custom-for-you Water Bottle Fountain Action Pack with Coaching! Request an Action Pack to get (at no charge to you): Customized, click-to-send emails, graphics and resources
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Drinking water increase health and hydration, but clean water is not always easy to get to. Recognizing this basic human need and the importance that water plays in overall health, Hillsborough County, Fla. (26% Latino population) has installed 60 water bottle filling stations—also called "hydration stations"—throughout the community. Attached to already existing water fountains, the stations have been installed at libraries, community centers, and public schools and parks, ABC Action News reports. In Hillsborough County, each station costs roughly $1,200 to install. “It's good that we have these stations,” said area resident Andres Gonzalez in an interview with ABC. “Easy and quick and efficient for us. Kind of a grab and go thing.” Latino kids ages 0-5 ...
Dehydration. Fatigue. Poor classroom performance. Water can help solve these issues for kids, but Latino kids don’t have access to clean drinking water as often as white kids, and they are more dehydrated. That’s why Salud America! created the #SaludWater health campaign! #SaludWater promotes awareness and grassroots actions to inspire local change to give Latino children more access to drinking water: Share social media messages about real stats and real people driving innovative solutions to boost water access, such as adding water bottle fountains in schools, pushing water using bilingual promotoras, and more.
Sign a letter to urge State PTAs to prioritize access to drinking water in schools, such as water bottle fountains.
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Good oral health is essential for kids and their overall health. For Latino kids though, it’s not always so simple. Most kids have their first dental visit by age 7. For Latinos, their first visit is closer to age 16! While lack of dental insurance is most often the reason for such a late start, there is another culprit. Sugar. The average child in the United States now consumes over half of her body weight in sugar every year. Much of this sugar comes from sugary drinks. Too Much Sugar is Bad! Too much sugar can lead to serious health issues, like obesity, diabetes, and poor oral health. Some populations, such as Latinos experience much higher oral disease rates than the general population. About half of all U.S. Latino children have experienced cavities and, in ...
Water Wellness Alert!!! Did you know that between 50-75% of your body is made of water? Drinking enough water to keep your body hydrated is an important part of staying healthy for kids and adults. One of the simplest ways that we can make sure that kids are drinking adequate water (and skipping the sugar-sweetened beverages!) is to include access to drinking water in school wellness policies. Including water in your policy helps to keep it top of mind for school staff and ensures that water won’t become less of a priority if the administration changes. Now is a great time for schools to update their wellness policies. All schools participating in federal nutrition programs must update their policies to comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s final rule by June 30, ...
Water isn't magic, but it can help you stay hydrated, control calories, and fuel muscles. But Latino kids don't drink enough water. In fact, Latino kids drink less plain water and more sugary drinks than white kids. That is according to research by Salud America!, a national Latino childhood obesity prevention network at UT Health San Antonio. That’s why we are spotlighting heroes who work hard to push water for Latino kids and families!
Praxina Guerra: 5th-Grader Gets Hydration Station in School
San Antonio fifth-grader Praxina Guerra and her mentor, Cathy Lopez, are true Salud Heroes when it comes to creating a healthy school environment. Praxina, spurred on by Lopez, joined the city's San Antonio Student Ambassador program and created a student club to encourage ...
Everyone knows that drinking water is a healthy habit, but how much and often and what are some of the benefits? For young athletes drinking water is much healthier than Gatorade or other sports drinks that are often high in added sugars. In fact, a 24-ounce Gatorade contains 34 grams of sugar and also contains large amounts of sodium as well. The Healthy Kids Hub has provided easy to use infographics that portray all the benefits of drinking water for athletes young or old, showing the benefits of water, like that it's free and doctors recommend it in their resource "5 Ways Water Wins", offered both in English and in Spanish. Another great resource offered in English and Spanish is the "Healthy Fuel for Healthy Athletes", which encourages young athletes to consume fruits and ...
