More P.E. classes in schools? Taxes on snacks and sodas? The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is issuing a last call for suggestions on the best ways to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. Share your thoughts in RWJF’s online forum, where our program officers are leading discussions about ensuring nutritious foods in schools, building more sidewalks and bike lanes, restricting food marketing, and unlocking school gyms and blacktops for community use outside of school hours. Give us your two cents before the forum ends this Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. More than 100 comments have been posted so far, with the topic of physical fitness in schools attracting the liveliest discussion. But what about other strategies, such as: Making certain foods and drinks cheaper—fruits, ...
More than two-thirds of Texas schoolchildren flunked the state's physical fitness test this year, a troubling trend that doctors worry could worsen with the Legislature loosening the requirements for high school gym class, the Houston Chronicle reports. The bright spot among the newly released state data involves elementary and middle school students, who met the healthy benchmarks at slightly higher rates than they did two years ago when Texas became the first state to mandate annual fitness testing. Third-grade girls continued to perform the best this year, with 37 percent passing all six tests, which involve running, strength and flexibility exercises and a body fat measure. High school seniors did the worst, with about 8 percent of each gender meeting the ...
The U.S. obesity epidemic continues to worsen as adult obesity rates climbed in 28 states in the past year—now exceeding 25 percent in more than two-thirds of the states—with rates higher among blacks and Latinos than whites in 40 states, according to the new F as in Fat 2010 report. Among the report's findings are that Latino adult obesity rates were above 35 percent in two states (North Dakota and Tennessee) and at 30 percent and above in 19 states. Obesity rates in Texas were the 13th-highest in the nation. The report, by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), goes on to discuss how the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. At the same time, it highlights public recognition of the issue and ...
An early childhood obesity prevention program developed by Public Health Solutions uses videos to help mothers, fathers, and other caregivers feed their babies a healthy diet from birth to age 2. The videos are available on DVD in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and French Creole/French. Watch the videos ...
At ages 3-5 our little ones learn the ABCs, how to count, and the primary colors. But how many preschoolers – whether from humble or affluent roots – are taught the building blocks of eating well and regular exercise? Juntos y Saludables (Get Healthy Together) is a two-year obesity and diabetes prevention project in several San Antonio, Texas, preschools that teach primarily Mexican-American children. The program is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, and UT at San Antonio through the institutions’ joint San Antonio Life Sciences Institute. Get Healthy Together is testing whether it is possible to indoctrinate students — for life — with healthy behaviors via positive interactions ...
Don’t many people blame video games for kids’ couch-potato ways, which are contributing to high rates of childhood obesity? Zan Gao thinks a video game can be part of the solution. Thanks to Salud America! funding, Gao is pilot-testing how Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), a video game that has players stomp on a dance mat to mimic the steps of an on-screen dancer boogieing to ultra cool music, impacts Latino students’ physical activity, fitness and academic performance in Utah schools. “We chose DDR because it is considered culturally sensitive to urban Latino children, who favor playing video games,” said Gao, an assistant professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Utah. “The kids are very excited about DDR and, most importantly, are active when ...
Parks nationwide provide space and opportunity for children and adults to be physically active, but a new review by Active Living Research identifies many ways to further leverage the capacity of America’s parks to help more people achieve recommended physical activity levels. Parks, Playgrounds and Active Living summarizes the growing body of evidence on how park proximity, size and features impact physical activity, especially among populations who are at high risk for being inactive and/or obese. According to the review by Active Living Research grantee Andrew Mowen: Having more parks and more park area in a community is associated with higher physical activity levels.
Lower-income populations and some racial and ethnic populations have limited access to parks and ...
A $15.6 million federal grant to San Antonio will serve as a “rallying point” in the city's ongoing effort to fight childhood obesity, Mayor Julián Castro said Friday, according to the San Antonio Express-News:
The grant was funded through stimulus money and hailed by first lady Michelle Obama, who has taken on the battle against childhood obesity.
That's an ongoing struggle in San Antonio, where a recent study showed 30 percent of children age 8 to 10 are obese, with Hispanic children suffering higher rates than others.
One of the several ways the city will approach the goal of healthier children is to establish an “Active Living Council of San Antonio” targeting physical activity in the city.
On the nutrition side, the city will work with schools, churches, restaurants, ...
Latino and black children had a higher risk of having a chronic health condition, such as obesity or asthma, a new study found, HealthDay reports. The study, published in the February Journal of the American Medical Association, found that one of every two U.S. children now grapples at some time with a chronic health condition—one that lasts at least 12 months, the report states. The good news is that for many of those children, their chronic childhood illness won't persist. Just over 7 percent of those who reported a chronic condition at the beginning of the study still had the condition six years later. The bottom line, according to article commentary, is that U.S. children need better health habits. Prevention is key. Read the journal article or the news story about the ...
