Student Nurses Train to Stem Tide of Latino Youth Obesity



Hispanic nursing students in Chicago, Phoenix, San Antonio, Brownsville, Texas, and Edinburg, Texas will become trainer-influencers to communities, steering Hispanic youth and their families away from the damaging lifelong effects of obesity. Muevete (Move) USA is the nursing students’ training course. This program, which began March 5-6, will equip students to tout a balanced life through healthy choices. “I know, as a Latina, that our children will have problems as adults if we let them continue to be obese,” said Muevete USA project director Dr. Norma Martinez Rogers of the The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. “We have to teach our children how to eat healthy, and through Muevete USA we are teaching an ideal population, Hispanic nursing ...

Read More

San Antonio School District Transforms Cafeterias into Healthy Cafés



Students at Northside Independent School District cafeterias in San Antonio are noticing changes as they choose their food. New options are fresh fruit bowls, veggies, salads, lean meats and whole-grain rolls. Gone are white-flour breads, high-fat cheese, fried food and sodas. Even the cafeteria name is gone—“café” has taken its place. The Northside Child Nutrition Department has spent $1.5 million over the last two years to provide more fresh fruits and salads, and new entrée options with less sodium and fat, in order to improve access to healthy foods. The district also has revamped the marketing of its healthy foods and has a mascot named NIC (Nutrition Instructional Chimp) to visit schools and tout healthy choices. “If you take this food away from the ...

Read More

Meeting Report: Progress in the Fight Against Latino Childhood Obesity



A new report highlights Latino childhood obesity challenges and potential solutions that were discussed at the 2nd Annual Scientific Summit of Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children. The summit, from Sept. 22-24, 2010, in San Antonio, showcased the innovative Latino childhood obesity research being done by the program's  20 pilot investigators. The investigators, from 11 states around the nation, presented the progress they’ve made on their two-year, $75,000 pilot projects to the audience of 75 of their peers and experts in the field. “I have to tell you, we’re very excited about the impact our pilot investigators are making,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America!, which is led by the ...

Read More

Apply for ‘Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training’



Are you a Latino master's student or master's-level professional in Texas? You are invited to apply by Feb. 18, 2011, for Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training, a new training program to encourage Latino master’s students and master’s professionals to pursue a doctoral degree in a Latino health disparity research field and/or cancer control research career. Éxito! is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Éxito! consists of: A 5-day Summer Institute in June 2011 that offers teaching, tools and resources Paid Internships (Starting in 2012) Doctoral Application Support Awards (Starting in 2012) Doctoral Biannual Retreats (Starting in 2014) "We believe that Éxito! can increase ethnic diversity in the ...

Read More

IHPR’s National Latino Cancer Research Network Gets $5.6M to Expand Fight Against Cancer



After a decade of success reducing Latino cancer through research, training and education, locally based Redes En Acción: The National Hispanic/Latino Cancer Research Network has received a new $5.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to bolster and expand its cancer-fighting efforts. Redes En Acción, launched in 2000, is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Redes has regional sites in Miami, New York, San Diego and San Francisco along with its online network of more than 1,800 researchers and advocates from across the U.S. In 10 years, Redes has successfully tested novel interventions to improve access to cancer care and screening. It’s trained the ...

Read More

Houston Celebrates 3rd Year of Smoking Ban; Resources Can Help Smokers Quit



Congratulations, Houston! A few days ago a large group of minority health coalitions, doctors and elected officials celebrated the third anniversary of Houston’s successful smoking ban urging Houstonians “to see their doctors and put down their cigarettes for good.” “Smoke Free for 3,” a campaign lead by the Hispanic Health Coalition, Asian American Health Coalition, African American Health Coalition, Native American Health Coalition, and Houston Communities for Safe Indoor Air (HCSIA), recognized the City of Houston’s leadership and success in creating more smoke free workplaces and public spaces effective Sept. 1, 2007. However, despite the success in public policies, smoking continues to be a significant personal health issue for many Houstonians, particularly for ...

Read More

Cigarette Smoke Jolts Hundreds of Genes (from San Antonio Study of Mainly Mexican-American Population)



A new study shows lighting up a cigarette changes a person's gene activity across the body, a possible clue as to why smoking affects overall health—from heart disease to combating infections, LiveScience reports. A research team from Australia and San Antonio, Texas, analyzed white blood cell samples of 1,240 mainly Mexican-American people, ages 16-94, who were participating in the San Antonio Family Heart Study. They found that the 297 self-identified smokers in the group were more likely to have unusual patterns of "gene expression" related to tumor development, inflammation, virus elimination, cell death and more. A gene is expressed when it codes for a protein that then instructs, or kick-starts, a process in the body. The study found cigarette smoke could alter the level ...

Read More

Amelie Ramirez Talks on Challenges, Solutions to Latino Child Obesity



Go here to listen to Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, leader of SaludToday, in a radio interview about the challenges of Latino childhood obesity and her Salud America! program’s efforts to reduce the epidemic. Dr. Ramirez was a guest on “Conversations on Health Care,” a weekly radio show airing in Connecticut, Minnesota and Michigan featuring experts in health care innovation and reform. The show is made possible by the Connecticut-based Community Health Center, Inc. Dr. Ramirez has spent 30 years directing many state-, federal- and privately-funded research programs focused on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Latinos. Under her leadership, the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT ...

Read More

Stirring “¿Sabía Usted?” Latino Childhood Obesity Video Wins Awards



A dramatic video that uses shocking statistics and actual child voices to document the multi-faceted epidemic of Latino childhood obesity is earning prestigious film awards and recognition for the Institute for Health Promotion (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The video, titled “Did You Know?/¿Sabía Usted?” and developed by the IHPR’s Salud America! program, has won awards from the 2010 New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards, 2010 Aegis Video & Film Production Awards and the 31st Annual Telly Awards: Gold World Medal, “Human Concerns,” New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards, May 3 Winner, “Training/Education,” Aegis Video & Film Production Awards, May 1 Bronze, ...

Read More