Salud America! has released six Spanish-language research briefs, infographics and animated videos that shed light on the causes of and solutions to Latino childhood obesity. The Spanish materials, which were released in English in late 2013, explore new research into how six critical topics—marketing, school snacks, sugary drinks, neighborhood food, and access to active play and spaces—impact Latino child health. The materials also feature evidence-based recommendations on how to address the issues among Latino children. Download the materials at: Healthier Marketing: English or Spanish
Sugary Drinks: English or Spanish
Active Play: English or Spanish
Active Spaces: English or Spanish
Healthier School Snacks: English or Spanish
Better Food in the Neighborhood: ...
Thirteen-year-old Estrella Hernandez, a member of the Mayor's Fitness Council Student Ambassadors, is making waves with her idea for an innovative fitness app made just for youth. Her app, "WeWalk," aims to motivate kids to exercise by using technology that they are familiar with. Kids play games on apps all the time, but now they can lead healthier lives while continuing to play. After learning about health issues and how obesity is affecting other youth her age, Estrella was inspired to combine health and technology. She has already received $12,500 in funding from the 80/20 Foundation and HEB. Building the app isn't simple, as it involves maintaining users accounts, monitoring how much users walk, and using Geo locations. Once the app is developed and beta tested, it will ...
Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Starla Garcia
Houston, Texas Long-distance racing takes stamina and perseverance. Starla Garcia exuded these skills as a collegiate cross-country athlete—skills she learned from her father, who shelved his own dreams of a doctoral degree to take care of his family. Garcia is now employing perseverance to help underserved populations outrace the health problems they face in places like the colonias along the Texas-Mexico border, where she grew up. Garcia has been able to use her experiences and understanding of the Latino culture in the work she does as a member of the Hispanic Health Coalition in Houston, ...
Two researchers have received $250,000 to expand their work to empower Latina teens in New Britain, Conn., to photograph areas for improvement in their community and use the results to sway policymakers. The researchers, Drs. Robert Dudley and Jayme Hannay of the Community Health Center, Inc., are former grantees of Salud America!, a Latino childhood obesity research network funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. For Salud America!, Dudley and Hannay conducted a mid-course evaluation of their Healthy Tomorrows for Teens (HTT) obesity prevention and leadership training program. They found that Photovoice, a photographic technique that empowers community members to ...
Yoga can help cancer survivors get active and improve their current and future health. That's the idea behind a new $500 mini-grant for the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, to start a yoga therapy program for Support Lending for Emotional Well-Being (SLEW), a non-profit wellness center for women who have been diagnosed with cancer. The grant, from the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, will allow the team to develop an “Exercise for Cancer Survivors” educational presentation and a yoga program/curriculum that will gradually introduce participants to yoga and be sustainable for SLEW to continuing using upon the grant’s end. The ...
Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Nicolas Lopez
San Diego, Calif. When is a banana not just a banana? For Nicolas Lopez, who grew up in a family who owned a banana plantation in Ecuador inherited by his grandmother, bananas are much more than a healthy snack. Bananas represent the extensive support of his late grandmother and his journey from Ecuador to the United State at age 18 to become the first of his family to attempt higher education. He has gone on to earn his undergraduate degree in biology at the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently pursuing a master’s in public health degree and a master’s of art in Latin ...
Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2013 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply by March 7, 2014, for the 2014 Èxito! program. Christina Carmona
San Antonio, Texas Born and raised in San Antonio, Christina Carmona has seen how Latinos here often don’t get access to the care they need, or they face cultural myths, financial barriers or a lack of knowledge of disease prevention. Carmona used this experience to fuel her drive to improve Latino health. Wanting to make a positive change in her community and serve as a role model for her children, Carmona earneda bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas San Antonio and is currently pursuing a master’s in public health degree at The University of Texas Health Science Center School ...
Latino kids need Salud Heroes to help fight childhood obesity. Can you step up? Visit our new website, Salud America! Growing Healthy Change, to read stories about real-life Salud Heroes who are making healthy community changes—from improved marketing to increased access to healthy food and physical activity, etc.—for Latino kids in your neighborhood and across the nation. You can also upload your own Salud Hero stories and photos. Watch a video about the site and Salud Heroes...and be a Salud Hero today! The Growing Healthy Change website was created by Salud America!, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. The ...
Want to fight Latino childhood obesity, but don’t know where to start or how to make a change? Start at Salud America! Growing Healthy Change. The new website is a first-of-its-kind clearinghouse of Latino-focused resources and stories to promote changes—healthier marketing and improved access to healthy food and physical activity, etc.—for Latino kids in your neighborhood and across the nation. Right now at the site, you can: Input your address and create maps at the school, city, county, state, or national level to see what changes are growing for Latino kids, or search by topic (e.g., healthier school snacks, active spaces, sugary drinks);
Find resources to start a change;
Watch and read about real-life “Salud Heroes” of change; and
Become a “Salud ...
