This policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research examines the eating habits of children ages two to five years. Despite steady declines in soda consumption, 60 percent of children in this age group continue to eat fast food at least once a week. Among young Latino children, the rate is 70 percent; overall, one in ten young children eats three or more fast food meals per week. Read the full policy brief ...
Read MoreChange occurs at many levels, and while transforming one's community may at first seem daunting, anyone can participate in making a difference (especially if they are well equipped with the right tools and knowledge)! The Community Toolbox is a free, easy-to use comprehensive guide to creating change. It was developed by researchers at the University of Kansas and is comprised of 46 chapters and 300 learning modules. Chapter 25 of the toolbox is entitled Changing Policies. The next chapter is called Changing the Physical and Social Environment. One section (ch. 26 sec. 6) is dedicated solely to Improving Parks and Other Community Facilities. At the bottom of this section, one can find a list of organizations who work to improve parks. The toolbox also features chapters devoted to ...
Read MoreChangelab Solutions and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership have released the Safe Routes to School District Policy Workbook to help parents, teachers, administrators and community leaders in the creation of their own district policies to support walk and bike to school programs. By using this interactive tool anyone can create a district-wide policy to support better health and obesity prevention in schools and tailor it to meet their needs. Learn more about how school districts can support Safe Routes to School and create a policy that everyone can buy ...
Read MoreIn this video, John Wetmore the producer of Perils for Pedestrians Television, interviews Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes National Partnership, who provides a comprehensive overview of how the National Safe Routes to School program got started and how partnerships across the country are working to prevent childhood obesity through the creation of sidewalks and improved infrastructure as well as walking and biking programs. Hubsmith also speaks of the amazing demand that there is for SRTS and about how states are working through their departments of transportation with schools and non-profits, to reduce health disparities among various groups. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmMZTA7F7qo&feature=share&list=SPpdpl8imBL0ONf7zvdt19EnjOQxNEkDAo Other notable speakers in this ...
Read MoreAmerica Bracho, executive director of Latino Health Access shares an inspirational testimony on "what happens when patients become leaders on the health team?" In this TEDMED talk, Bracho speaks about her background as a physician from Venezuela and of Irma, a community health worker who succeeded in bringing the first park and community center to a predominantly Latino area of Santa Ana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jxCG6d4LiGQ In this Q&A, Havey Fineberg, President of the Institute of Medicine asks Bracho to provide some practical insight into what qualities make a good community health ...
Read MoreEver wondered where to find a playground in your neighborhood? Check out Ka-BOOM's Map of Play to find a playspace near you! You can also help others locate a playspace in their area by adding to the Map of Play by using your smartphone. According to Ka-BOOM only 1 in 5 children live within walking distance of a playspace. Find out how your neighborhood rates! To learn more visit Ka-BOOM's Map of Play website or locate a playspace by typing in a city, state, or zip code in the search bar ...
Read MoreLooking for ways to get the community excited about biking around your town? Why not host a bike rack design competition, like Brownsville did? View the Planning Brownsville Facebook page and check out the details of the city-wide bike-rack design competition, held in the Fall of ...
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CPR training rates are lower in poor, rural, Hispanic and other minority-heavy U.S. regions, a new study shows, HealthDay reports. Timely bystander CPR can boost the odds of survival for those who experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital, but the new study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found exceedingly low CPR training rates in its examination of 13 million people in across 3,100 counties. Specific findings included: ...fewer people are trained in CPR in the South, Midwest and West...counties with the lowest rates of CPR training—less than 1.3 percent of the population—were also more likely to have a greater proportion of rural areas, black and Hispanic residents, and a lower average household income. These areas also had fewer doctors and, on average, older ...
Read MoreCan raising the price of sugary drinks convince people to buy them less? A new Harvard study found that raising the cost of high-calorie beverages by a few cents and highlighting calorie content in places where they are sold, decreases sales. Researchers at Harvard conducted a study in the cafeteria of a financial services company. They increased the price of high-calorie beverages (those that contained 150 calories or more per container), mostly soda, lemonade, whole chocolate milk, and some juices, by one cent per ounce. Could this lead folks to believe that a soda tax would encourage people to drink less sugary drinks? Read more about the study ...
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