In 2013, Planned Parenthood served over 93,000 people in Texas; however, Texas officials announced Monday, October 19, 2015, that they would no longer reimburse facilities serving Medicaid patients. Latinos and low-income residents who are eligible for Medicaid are burdened by more barriers when accessing care thus experience disparities in health, such as obesity, diabetes and cancer. Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas provides valuable services to reduce health disparities by providing comprehensive reproductive and related healthcare services and delivering science-based education programs. For example, the following health care services were provided in Texas in 2013: 16,663 breast cancer screenings
1,053 referrals for free mammograms to eligible patients
12,313 ...
Science teacher and now paid brand ambassador of McDonalds', John Cisna, has been rolling out his infomercial video to schools across America, informing them that McDonalds helped him lose weight. In Cisna's documentary, 540 Meals: Choices Make the Difference, his daily choices at McDonalds lowers his caloric intake to help him loose weight and he starts having a more active lifestyle. Walking up to 45 minutes a day, where before he did not exercise at all, and eating at or less than 2,000 calories, when his body type required more than 3,000 calories to stay at his body weight of 280 pounds, he informs kids about a 'healthier lifestyle'. However effective Cisna is at losing weight in his documentary, it is not a way to market healthy food and lifestyle choices to kids, explains ...
Diabetes in pregnant women is linked with several heart and other structural birth defects. However, not only is maternal diabetes associated with fetal heart defects, but even pregnant women without diabetes are at risk for having babies with heart defects. According to the Maternal Midpregnancy Glucose Levels and Risk of Congenital Heart Disease in Offspring study, pregnant mothers with elevated glucose or insulin, which are both associated with obesity, are at increased risk for having babies with congenital heart problems. Read more about this study here. Read about this study in Spanish here. Access the Maternal Midpregnancy Glucose Levels and Risk of Congenital Heart Disease in Offspring study ...
Babies who are breastfed have reduced risks of ear and respiratory infections, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diabetes, and obesity; therefore, the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative established Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as the global standard for hospital care to support breastfeeding. However, according to the CDC Vital Signs report, many hospitals do not implement the steps. For example, 80% of babies born in the US start out breastfeeding, but, unfortunately, 6 in 10 breastfeeding mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intend. Even more Latina mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intend. This is due to lack of support from hospitals, the workplace, businesses, and families. In order to reduce Latino childhood obesity, ...
Camp Cauliflower is a cooking camp in Novato, Calif., where young students are learning what healthy cooking looks like for one week. Created by 17-year-old high school senior, Elena Dennis, the camp encourages young students to create healthy meals from the garden to the kitchen. Students harvest, cut, chop and cook alongside their older peers throughout the classes, all while learning what it takes to create a well-balanced meal. Elena, interested in starting this camp to encourage healthier diets for younger classmates, wanted to use her passion for cooking and nutrition in her school. She set out to make her dream of Camp Cauliflower become a reality in 2014 by asking food and nutrition director of Novato School District, Miguel Villarreal to help her start her camp. After ...
Editor's note: this is an update of a past change. View the past change at: Update: Chicago Considers State-Wide Sugary Drink Tax Mayor Emanuel listened to small businesses of Chicago, opting out on the recent proposals for a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. The American Beverage Association (ABA) reported on September 23rd that the beverage tax will not take final vote on the budget until October 28th of 2015. The ABA states they are supporting and protecting small business owners and that the taxes will hurt middle and low-income families trying to run their small businesses. The ordinance as currently proposed does not affect sugary drinks in fast food restaurants or otherwise dispensed by fountains, only those in bottles or cans. And what about the health of middle and ...
Bringing together the San Antonio community (63.2% Latino), Hemisphere Park opened up a portion of the planned park, the Yanaguana Children's Park, to celebrate their 3 day grand opening and ribbon cutting on October 3rd, 2015. The new park was filled with smiling faces of children enjoying the beautiful Texas weather this weekend, climbing, running, digging and splashing in the water fountains. Providing access to active areas, where little is found in regards to green space or places for children to play in downtown, the newly designed urban park provided open areas for kids to enjoy playgrounds, sand pits, and plenty of free music and interactive games for families. Free parking, is available over the weekend, allowing families who cannot walk to the park, a way to afford a ...
A new study conducted by Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation found out that school entrees paired with popular veggies like potatoes were less likely to be wasted. Plate waste studies are performed to better understand what students are eating and how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into students diets. Research shows Latino students are more likely to purchase unhealthy snacks and beverages that are available within their schools. Knowing how to incorporate and encourage consumption of healthier foods is vital to Latino youth's health, as Latino youth have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. Unfortunately, the studies findings stated that the least popular vegetables were dark-green leafy vegetables, such as ...
Coca-Cola has vowed not to renew funding on future health and nutrition studies with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for the rest of 2015. Coke has spent millions of research dollars for health and fitness since 2010 for research with well-known institutions. In fact, over eight years of funding and $2.6 million dollars has been spent on conferences and programs. Coke spokeswoman Joanna Price, said in a recent Wall Street Journal article, that the company had decided not to renew for budget reasons and that they are broadly reviewing partnerships aimed at addressing obesity. Sugary beverage consumption has been linked by research to health concerns for Latinos including diabetes, obesity, and chronic disease. Dietitians for Professional Integrity has not accepted funding ...
