Latino communities often have more access to fast food and corner stores with less access to healthy foods, so ensuring healthier food access is available in corner stores is an important avenue to help bring healthier foods and diets to Latino neighborhoods. Research shows that increased access to supermarkets can help Latino communities economic vitality and is linked to healthier body weights, so how can corner stores play a part in healthier food access for Latinos? A new guide from the Food and Nutrition Service of USDA can help corner stores sell healthier foods, with strategies on marketing and displaying healthy food and beverage options, sourcing these options and making changes to their overall stores. The Healthy Corner Store Guide helps corner store owners learn how ...
Many Latino preschool kids deal with heavy advertisements of unhealthy food marketing and consume more sugary beverages and junk foods than their peers. Now a new study highlights the importance of healthier food marketing to kids of preschool age. The study reported on in Pediatrics found that food advertisement exposure may actually encourage more eating among the young, and depending on which foods are offered, could be adding to a risk for unhealthy weights. Sixty children ages two to five were given a healthy snack then asked to watch a 14-minute TV ad, half watching an ad about food, the other half watching an ad featuring a department store. They were then given an option after seeing the ads to consume more snack foods, where the kids who saw the food ad ate 30 more ...
Vaccinating pre-teens against human papillomavirus (HPV) is easier with new CDC guidelines, which recommends two HPV shots for younger adolescents instead of three. The three-injection series is still recommended for older teens. Today the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) of UT Health San Antonio is uniting with each of the other 68 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers in issuing a joint statement to support these recommendations with the hope of improving the national vaccination rate. January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. "We must amplify and unify our efforts to increase awareness of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical and other cancers, and to motivate pediatricians to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated,” ...
What would you think of fruit slices or nuts in your grocery stores check out lanes? A recent study explored how consumers felt after a healthy in-store marketing study was conducted and how it can impact sales. Before the study was started, a pre-intervention study revealed many consumers had concerns and were annoyed with unhealthy snacks being placed and promoted throughout the store. Shoppers had reported a concern for many families that struggle with children pleading for unhealthy snacks at checkout, and believed stores should avoid unhealthy marketing. Candies and sugar confectionery were then replaced at one checkout lane in four stores. After four weeks interviews with consumers revealed positive attitudes towards the healthy marketing checkout lanes and ...
More mothers are joining the workforce than ever before, especially Latinas. In 2015, 42% of all U.S. moms were the “breadwinner” (earning at least half of their family’s income) for their households, and 22% were co-breadwinners, according to a report by the Center for American Progress. The report found that, regardless of the family composition, the vast majority of adults with “custodial children” are part of the labor force. "With the majority of women working for pay, and their earnings being so vital to the economic well-being of their families, the days of full-time, stay-at-home mothers are long past," according to the report. "Women are crucial economic actors for their families, local communities, and the overall U.S. economy." The rates of breadwinning ...
Perceptions of place impact behavior, thus health. Think of specific places, like neighborhoods, sidewalks, and parks; specific physical activity behaviors like walking, playing, and biking; and specific health issues, like heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Latino children often lack access-both real and perceived-to safe, available places to be physically active, thus their mental, physical, and emotional health suffer. Literature regarding inequity in places to walk and play and subsequent health disparities is continuously growing. According to a new survey, perceptions of place also impact civic engagement. The Center for Active Design (CfAD) analyzed data from the Soul of the Community survey to explore the relationship between qualities of place and civic ...
Jose Ramos never gives up. He learned how to persevere from his mother, who survived breast cancer, and his parents, who worked hard to provide for their family. He managed to stay out of the same trouble—crime and dropping out of school—that afflicted his siblings. And he is keeping his goal in sight: becoming an MD/PhD. Ramos, who was the first in his family to graduate high school and college, is currently studying global disease as a master’s student in public health at Columbia University. He’s not just limiting his efforts to the classroom, either. In 2016, Ramos earned a fellowship with the Ministry of Health in Cape Town, South Africa. He also will intern with the Brazilian Health Association in Rio de Janeiro, where he will conduct community-based ...
In addition to reducing your risk for heart disease, diabetes, 13 types of cancer, and numerous other lifelong health complications, physical activity, like walking, also boosts your mood, and improves academic performance, creativity, and your memory. Physical activity plays a critical role in reducing health disparities among Latinos because they face disproportionately more barriers to access safe places to walk and play. Forbes shares six reasons why you should make walking part of your day: Walking boosts your mood, even when you're not expecting it.
Walking enhances creativity, especially when you're seeking a solution.
Walking sparks connections between brain cells.
Walking improves working memory.
Walking yields the right rhythm for thinking.
Walking is ...
Editor’s Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2016 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now. Stephanie McCoy isn’t just her family’s first college student and graduate. She is their first master’s-degree student and—should she decide to pursue it—could become their first doctoral degree student, too. McCoy, who is strongly motivated by her personal experiences and her immigrant parents who overcame adversity, is ardently pursuing a career in public health and currently is a master’s student in health behavior and health education at the University of Texas at Austin. She already is already gaining experience working in underserved communities. McCoy has spent several years working with nonprofit organizations, as well as ...
