In December 2023, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the final rule adopting the nearly 1,200-page 11th Edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD). The MUTCD is the national standard for all road marking, highway signs, and traffic signals. Three years prior, the FHWA requested public comments on the proposed changes to the then-700-page MUTCD, which hadn’t been updated since 2009. More than 25,000 people submitted public comments. That included nearly 450 of the model comments developed by our team at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. Let’s explore how the FHWA hit the mark for improvement (or missed an opportunity) for five key areas of concern in our model comments and those of other transportation ...
Recently, the FDA sought public comment on strategies to reduce added sugar consumption. Sugary drink consumption, which is heavy among Latino children, represents a large portion of the added sugar intake in the diets of Americans. This increases risk of obesity and disease. Salud America! created a model comment that people could submit to FDA to share five pediatrician-approved ways to limit sugary drink consumption among children! Comments were due Jan. 22, 2024. Update 1/24/24: Salud America! members submitted 260 of the 418 comments that FDA received to reduce added sugars and limit sugary drinks in the American diet!
View the Salud America! Model Comment to Reduce Added Sugars, Sugary Drink Consumption
Greetings, I applaud FDA for seeking public input on reducing ...
Having fast, affordable internet can improve lives with access to education, healthcare, and jobs, among other important opportunities. But nearly 7 million Texans are being left behind, without high-speed internet. With this in mind, the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) is encouraging public comments on the proposed Texas Digital Opportunity Plan. The digital opportunity plan focuses on “closing the digital divide in Texas and ensuring every Texan has the skills and abilities to fully and safely utilize broadband access.” Submit a comment on the draft plan to address broadband access, affordability, and adoption in Texas by Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. Comment NOW!
Why Is the Digital Divide an Issue?
About 2.8 million Texas households are in the ...
Volunteering for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s helps other people. It gives the volunteer a nice emotional boost, too. So why not volunteer your "digital voice" or "actions"? We at Salud America! invite you to take or start these 13 actions to promote health equity for Latino and all families this holiday season!
1. Speak Up to Limit Sugar in Dietary Guidelines!
A few years ago, scientists advised federal leaders to adjust the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to lower added sugar intake from 10% to 6% of daily calories and reduce men’s daily alcohol intake from two to one drink a day. That advice was not taken. Now those scientists – the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee – are asking for public comment as they again prepare to recommend changes ...
Where you live can hurt or help your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical factors, such as the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are known as social determinants of health (SDoH). Sometimes, social needs can arise from inequities in SDoH. These social needs include low wages and limited employee benefits; underperforming schools; lack of medical providers; unstable and unaffordable housing; low access to nutritious food; unreliable transportation options; and unsafe streets and parks. Here at Salud America!®, we believe everyday people can make healthy changes in their community to address social needs. That’s right – you don’t need to hold political office to make a positive ...
Hispanic Heritage Month is here! This annual U.S. observance, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. We at Salud America! invite you to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in these surprising ways.
1. Learn How Hispanic Heritage Month Began
U.S. Congressmen Edward R. Roybal of Los Angeles and Henry B. Gonzales were among those who introduced legislation on the topic in 1968. President Lyndon Johnson implemented the observance as Hispanic Heritage Week that year. U.S. Rep. Esteban E. Torres of Pico Rivera proposed the observance be expanded to cover its current 30-day period. President Ronald Reagan implemented the expansion to ...
A few years ago, scientists advised federal leaders to adjust the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to lower added sugar intake from 10% to 6% of daily calories and reduce men’s daily alcohol intake from two to one drink a day. That advice was not taken. Now those scientists – the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee – are asking for public comment as they again prepare to recommend changes to the dietary guidelines. This is an opportunity to speak up for nutrition! Submit a model comment created by Salud America! to urge lower added sugar and alcohol intake in the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans! The comment period opened Jan. 19, 2023, and closed on Oct. 1, 2024. October 2024 UPDATE: 266 Salud America members submitted our model comment ...
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing to consider pedestrians in their vehicle safety rating system. That is good news for a system that has ignored the safety of people outside the vehicle wherein "pedestrian fatalities have skyrocketed 77% since 2010, compared to 25% for all other traffic-related deaths," according to preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). But the news isn’t all good. NHTSA’s proposed changes to the vehicle safety rating system – the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) – are insufficient. The changes do not differentiate between pedestrian injury risk and fatality risk, and they fail to fully inform consumers about the true risk to pedestrians from vehicles, lessening the potential ...
We have updated our Salud America! Health Equity Report Card to cover your county’s child opportunity score, environmental justice score, location affordability, and transit access. The Health Equity Report Card, first launched in 2017, auto-generates Latino-focused and local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges, which can help you visualize and explore local inequities in housing, transit, poverty, health care, food, education, and more. You will see how your county stacks up in these health equity issues — now including child opportunity, location affordability, and transit access — compared to your state and the nation. Then you can share the Report Card with your local leaders to shift from individualist thinking to advocating for systemic community change ...
