Check out this bill tracker that follows bills in the 84th Texas Legislature that are relevant to research taking place at the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living and the expertise of their faculty. The bills are sorted into 4 general categories: food policy, obesity and the built environment, school health, and tobacco. Click here to access the bill ...
Read MoreUsing data from the 2012-13 school year, researchers with Bridging the Gap's National Wellness Policy Study collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update a series of briefs and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation highlighting opportunities to support wellness policies through evidence-based strategies. These briefs provide an assessment of policies across school districts nationwide related to seven wellness policy components. They also highlight areas of opportunity for state agencies, school districts, and schools to strengthen wellness policy components. The PowerPoint presentation provides stakeholders with an easy-to-use resource to present the research findings, recommendations, resources, and other information found in the ...
Read MoreThis policy brief, created by Leadership for Healthy Communities which is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, investigates sugary drink consumption in communities of color, focusing on the public health impact and marketing of such products, and policy options to facilitate healthy beverage consumption. It also discusses how decision makers can work to prevent childhood obesity and related illnesses by advancing policies to reduce the marketing and appeal of sugary drinks—and increase the availability of healthy alternatives—in communities of color. Download Sugary Drinks in Communities of Color: Recent Research and Policy Options for Reducing ...
Read MoreIn 2010, the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, convened and prepared an action plan that was presented to President Barack Obama. The report explains the childhood obesity epidemic and describes policy actions that can be undertaken to improve the health of children in communities throughout the U.S. the report is divided into five sections including: Early childhood health Empowering parents and caregivers Health food in schools Access to healthy affordable food Increasing Physical activity Access the full report ...
Read MoreAccording to a new infographic produced by Active Living Research (ALR), children who are active do better in school. In ALR's Active Education Brief, researchers found that students who were more physically active performed better on standardized tests and in subjects like math and reading. Use this infographic to make the case for physical activity in schools. To learn more, access the ALR brief & infographic ...
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In San Francisco youth are working to raise awareness of the dangers that sugary beverage consumption hold, through the Open Truth Campaign. To raise awareness of the issue, youth have created their own poems and videos to discuss just how aggressively big soda companies are in their use of marketing tactics which target Latino and black youth. The campaign also features billboards which have been placed throughout San Francisco's metro system and will rely largely on social media use to prompt communities to act. To join the Open Truth Movement in speaking out against soda, access some of their resources below: Download Open Truth ads here. Create your own ad, by taking a selfie & creating a "Big Soda, stop targeting me" flyer or poster. Take action by visiting ...
Read MoreAccording to California state law, all elementary school students should receive a minimum of 200 minutes of physical education (PE) every 10 days. For middle school students the number increases to 400 minutes of PE every 10 days. Unfortunately, Latino students, along with other minority & low-income students, are often denied access to physical education, despite widespread support for physical education among California’s constituents. In fact, The City Project reports that Californians not only favor PE, but they support it more than any other obesity prevention policy. When low-income students and students of color receive disproportionately lower levels of physical education and schools fail to comply with state law, The City Project says this becomes a civil rights ...
Read MoreWith over 10 million children attending afterschool programming, afterschool care providers can play an important role when it comes to expanding healthy eating and active living opportunities for children. An October 2014 report produced by the Afterschool Alliance highlights the latest research on how parents feel about the quality of afterschool care their children receive. For the survey, 13,709 households with children, throughout the U.S., answered an in-depth on-line survey. Key findings from report include: 80% of parents believed that afterschool programs should help children be active (82% of African American and Latino parents believed programs should help children be active) 70% of parents believed that afterschool programs should provide children with healthy ...
Read MoreFaith based organizations (FBOs) are uniquely positioned to expand their congregation's opportunities for learning about & leading a healthy lifestyle. However, according to a recent study conducted among 844 faith leaders throughout the U.S., over 77% of clergy members were overweight or obese. While certain barriers such as a lack of medical insurance, fear, language, embarrassment, and beliefs in fatalism might contribute to the poor health of some church members, faith based organizations have the opportunity to step in to offer services to those that they might not otherwise have access to. Faith-based leaders can counteract unhealthy lifestyles by providing accurate health information, addressing cultural beliefs about health and addressing behaviors which ...
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