A price increase in sugary drink is proven to reduce consumption, according to a Salud America! Research Review. Sugary drink taxes have bubbled up in cities across the country, like Philadelphia's tax that has reduced consumption and Berkeley's tax that has generated money for health programs. But before the U.S. midterm election Nov. 6, 2018, Big Soda giants like Coke spent millions on deceptive marketing campaigns to fight sugary drink tax measures, according to reports by NPR, the New York Times, and Vox. Experts say Big Soda is taking cues from the tobacco industry’s playbook by supporting ballot measures and state laws that block governments from passing new taxes on food and drinks as well as cultivating relationships with doctors and scientists. What happened to the ...
During the 2018 midterm election cycle, U.S. voters passed 17 of 20 public transportation ballot measures—two remain undecided. Over the past two decades, Americans have voted in favor of public transportation more than 70% of the time, according to Josh Cohen, campaign director at the Center for Transportation Excellence. Earlier in 2018 during the primary elections, voters passed 13 of 16 measures supporting public transit; during the 2017 general election, voters passed seven of eight measures; and during the 2016 general election, voters passed 33 of the 49 measures. Elected leaders at the local and state level are getting the hint and increasingly addressing public transit issues while campaigning. “These candidates know that public transportation is an issue that ...
A few years ago, San Antonio City Council member Rey Saldaña tried his own transportation experiment. He ditched his car and relied on public transit for one month. The good? Saldaña met great people. He read. He explored the city. Parking was no problem. The bad? When buses ran late, he missed connections and showed up late to council meetings. Rain drenched him at bus stops. He had to skip fun activities because of a lack of frequent routes. Saldaña’s eye-opening experiment led him to champion more funding for VIA Metropolitan Transit (VIA), the regional mass transit agency serving San Antonio and Bexar County, which operates with the least amount of funding among all major transit authorities in Texas. His efforts spurred the city to invest millions to improve public ...
Adult obesity rates reached 35% in at least 7 states and saw increases in 31 states across the U.S. from 2012-2017, while no significant drops in obesity rates were seen in any state, over the last year. These are the latest findings from a report from the Trust for America's Health and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report developed using data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) goes on to highlight how adult obesity continued to rise in at least 6 states: Iowa, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, between 2016-2017. In the case of Iowa and Oklahoma, this is the first time these states reach the 35% obesity threshold. The states with the highest levels of obesity by rank are: #1- West Virginia ...
Food swamps cover large parts of the Dallas area. In fact, almost 700,000 Dallas County residents—including more than 245,000 children—live in low-income communities with limited supermarket access, according to a Dallas Morning News report.
Food Swamps & Latinos
We already know that food deserts and food swamps are making low-income Latinos obese. A food desert is an area more than 2 miles or 15 minutes away from a grocery store. A food swamp includes a food desert and a high-density of stores and restaurants that offer high-calories fast food and junk food, relative to healthier food options. It can be hard for Latina mothers to navigate food swamps. For Dallas’ Latino and black populations in areas like Pleasant Grove, Oak Cliff, and East Dallas, food ...
Want to help help Latino and all kids achieve good health? Check out new research that identifies several key ways to reduce sugary drink consumption among children ages 0-5. The research, published in July 2018 in the journal Obesity Reviews by Healthy Eating Research, analyzed 27 studies that assessed an intervention to decrease sugary drink consumption is high-income countries. "Overall, evidence suggests that interventions successful at reducing SSB consumption among 0- to 5-year-olds often focused on vulnerable populations, were conducted in preschool/daycare settings, specifically targeted only SSBs or only oral hygiene, included multiple intervention strategies, and had higher intervention intensity/contact time," according to the research.
Strategy Suggestions From The ...
Getting Latinos to go and see a primary care provider is hard enough. Even when they reach a doctor, many families get frustrated with little time to ask questions. In response, two Latina pediatricians started a Spanish-language health podcast for Latino parents! Drs. Edith Brancho Sanchez and Angela Castellanos of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia started the podcast, "Las Doctoras Recomiendan," in March 2018 to provide reliable, free health information, whyy.org reports. Why and how did they make it happen?
The Issue of Latino Healthcare Access
At least 27% of Latinos report having no usual health care provider, according to a Salud America! research review. Latino parents face barriers to medical care, like lack of insurance, legal status, language, high cost. This ...
"Will they think I’m crazy? Will they think my child is crazy?" Parents and kids worry what other people will think if they talk about childhood mental health issues. Negative stigma often keeps them from seeking help. This isn't news to Michele Brown, vice president of marketing and development at Clarity Children’s Guidance Center in San Antonio, Texas (63.7% Latino). Brown knows the shocking stats all too well: 1 in 5 kids suffer from mental illness.
Of those, only 1 in 5 receives treatment. These stats spurred Clarity's "1 in 5 Minds" campaign to share stories, counter mental health stigma, and boost support, Brown said.
The Problem of Mental Health Stigma
Stigma is when someone, or even you yourself, views a person in a negative way just because they have a ...
Despite claims that underage drinking may be on the decline, certain groups like Latino youth continue to be at a high risk for engaging in frequent binge drinking behaviors. Nearly 1 in 2 high school aged youth reported drinking, according to a report from Child Trends, and over 1 in 6 high school seniors had five or more drinks in less than a couple of hours (defined as binge drinking), according to the CDC. Underage drinking poses a number of threats to youth especially since their brains are still developing at this age. Communities of color are often targeted through aggressive marketing of alcoholic beverages and living near a high density of alcohol outlets. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, to tweet about ways to prevent binge drinking among high ...
