The YMCA of Southeast Texas has partnered up with Lamar State College in Port Arthur, TX (30% Latino) to reverse Latino childhood obesity! According to a Texas YMCA blog post, players from Lamar State's basketball team, the Seahawks, met with local students to offer free basketball lessons during the month of January 2014. Students were instructed by the Seahawks and their head coach, Lance Madison, on fundamental skills used in basketball like dibbling, passing, and shooting. This is the second year the Seahawks bring free basketball lessons to students ages 3-13. To learn more about this change click here. To connect with the YMCA of Southeast Texas visit their page here. ...
How can YOU... ...make "active play" essential? (Page 1) ...start a community garden? (Page 3) ...make your county healthier? (Page 5) ...teach kids to eat better? (Page 6) Find out in the latest Salud America! E-newsletter. Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program aims to unite and increase the number of Latino stakeholders engaged in community change and research on environmental and policy solutions to the epidemic. The network is directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Don’t forget to share your stories at our new Salud America! Growing Healthy Change website. We can help you get a ...
Jeff Anderson, a parent at Wolftrap Elementary School in Fairfax, Va., wanted his daughter to bike to school. Unfortunately, the school had no bike racks. He went to the principal and the school installed bike racks. Anderson then joined other parents, school officials, and community partners to improve one of the school district’s transportation policies. Now parents from all over the community, including those with large Latino populations, have created safe routes for kids to walk and bike to district schools.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: In Spring 2008, Jeff Anderson noticed that there were no bike racks at Wolftrap Elementary School in Vienna, Va., a city with a 12% Latino population. An avid bicyclist, Anderson wanted his then-first-grade daughter to learn biking’s sense of ...
A group of Latina women in the park poor city of Santa Ana, Calif., were desperate to have a safe place for their children to play. One mom, Irma Rivera, saw a child almost get hit by a car while playing in an empty parking lot, and she vowed to do something about the lack of safe active spaces. She and other moms went to non-profit group Latino Health Access (LHA) for support and found that the group was willing to champion the cause. Through teamwork, determination and perseverance, LHA and the moms managed to get land and funding to build the area’s first-ever public park and community center for Latinos in south Santa Ana.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Latinos in Santa Ana, Calif., struggle with poverty, language and cultural barriers, obesity, and disease—despite being part of Orange ...
In 2010 Ohio became the first state in the country to turn the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Competitive Foods and Beverages Guidelines, which outline nutritional criteria for snacks and beverages sold in school, into law. Cincinnati Public School District began to make their changes according to this law in 2010 by re-evaluating their vending machine contracts. Jessica Shelly, Food Service Director, found vending machines all over campuses throughout the district. Many were not monitored well and there was nothing being done to keep track of the many different brands/types of machines placed throughout the district. School leaders decided to wipe the slate clean, getting rid of all vending machines and putting out a new request for proposal for machines with timers and ...
Northgate González Market has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The family-owned and operated California-based grocery store chain, originally founded by immigrants from Jalisco in 1980, went from one 2,500-square-foot store to now 42 stores located throughout Southern California. Despite Northgate’s success, its owners have not forgotten their roots or culture. They seek to offer high-quality products and improve the quality of life for Latinos through their Viva la Salud! Program, which includes bilingual healthy food labels and an entire marketing program aimed at helping customers make wise food- purchasing decisions as part of a healthy lifestyle. EMERGENCE Awareness: Victor González, Senior VP of Marketing at González Northgate Markets, a chain of ...
In 2008, Rancho Cucamonga a small community in California with a largely Latino population, established Healthy RC, a city-community partnership aimed at creating a healthy environment for all. With the support of a Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Healthy RC was able to work more specifically on the issue of preventing childhood obesity, by creating opportunities for healthy eating and active living. Some of the community's key accomplishments from 2008-2014 include: establishing one of the nation's top ten Complete Streets policies;
winning national recognition for sustainable community development; and
being named as a #1 city in the Let's Move campaign. Now six-years after creating Healthy RC, the community continues to ...
On March 19, 2014 K-8th grade students across Nevada enjoyed the fifth annual Nevada Moves Day---an event that celebrates the benefits of walking and biking to and from school. The event which started in 2009 has grown to include over 23,000 students from 60 different Clark County School District schools and 28 schools from the Washoe County School District. At one school, Lincoln Park elementary (58% Latino) in Sparks, NV, students learned about safety from law enforcement officers, in addition to experiencing the fun of walking to school. According to Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras, it's important to teach kids about being safe during their commute because many kids in the area are now walking to school. Officer MJ Cloud, the Safe Routes Coordinator ...
The mostly Latino southern area of Santa Ana, Calif., had limited places to be active—and not a single park. Desperate for more active spaces to give them more chances to get fit and avoid disease and obesity, residents pushed for and received a new park, Corazones Verdes Park. While park construction remained underway, members of Latino Health Access sought alternative active spaces. That’s when they came up with the idea of creating a Wellness Corridor through downtown Santa Ana. Now partners from across the city are discussing ways to make the community more walkable, and residents of all ages are learning to effectively voice the need for healthy options.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: America Bracho, a Venezuelan-born physician and public health advocate for the Latino community of south ...
