New ‘Healthy Eating’ Funding Opportunity
Mar 17th
Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is seeking proposals for proposals for research to promote healthy eating among children to prevent childhood obesity, especially among lower-income and racial and ethnic populations at highest risk for obesity.
Approximately $2.4 million will be awarded for Round 5 grants, rapid-response grants and New Connections grants through Healthy Eating Research.
The broad topics and types of studies that apply to these three types of grants are described in the full “call for proposals” here or at the Healthy Eating Research Web site.
Applications are due May 13, 2010.
Redes En Acción: Making a Difference Against Latino Cancer
Mar 16th
Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute and directed by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of SaludToday and the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is celebrating 10 years of work to reduce Latino cancer.
Redes has generated more than $200 million in funding for cancer research, trained more than 200 students and health professionals and conducted more than 2,000 community education events, bilingual materials and more.
Watch a stirring video here or below about the program’s achievements among Latinos. Then join us!
Also, watch the program’s six new PSAs touting Latino cancer prevention in English or Spanish here. To request broadcast-quality formats of the PSAs, email us at saludtoday@uthscsa.edu.
Latino News Roundup: Diabetes, Obesity & Youth
Mar 15th
Check out these Latino health news tidbits from the past few days:
Doctors try to discover why more Latinos are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes in all Americans has become a code red emergency in the U.S., with people of color topping the list as the most vulnerable. More than 10 percent of the country’s Latino population has diabetes. The quest to reverse this crisis involves a multi-layered investigation, beginning at a genetic level and branching into the psychological, cultural, social and economic factors that may be paving the way toward obesity and diabetes.
Ventura County Star
New grant aims to cut obesity in Latino, black New Yorkers
A $6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has funded the creation of ORBIT: Obesity Related Behavioral Intervention Trials to focus on reducing obesity and obesity-related deaths in New York City’s African-American and Latino communities.
Medical News Today
America’s Tomorrow: A Profile of Latino Youth
The National Council of La Raza has released a report that examines the status of U.S. Latino youths. Latino youth, who compose nearly 20% of all youth in the country, experience high levels of poverty, high dropout rates, low graduation rates, high unemployment rates, and low rates of health insurance. Given that Latinos will compose about 30% of the U.S. population by 2050, the ability of Latino youth to overcome these pressing challenges today will directly impact the economic and social success of our nation in the future.
National Council of La Raza
LAF, Others Host Free Training for Promotores in Austin, Texas
Mar 15th
On Friday, April 23, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Migrant Clinicians Network and Ventanilla de Salud are hosting a free, all-day training for community health workers at St. David’s Foundation in Austin, Texas.
The LIVESTRONG Cancer Survivorship Training provides community health workers, often known as promotores in Latino communities, the tools and strategies to promote cancer survivors to keep track of their physical, day-to-day, and emotional concerns of cancer survivorship.
Workshops will be taught in English and Spanish.
Space is limited, so reservations are required and provided on a first come first serve basis. For a reservation, contact Annie Crawford at 512-478-2866, ext. 117, or acrawford@capitalahec.org.
San Antonio Researcher Wins Grant to Increase Latina Cancer Screening
Mar 12th
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institution of Texas (CPRIT) this week announced the $6.8 million to fund 12 new cancer prevention programs throughout Texas.
Dr. Cynthia Mojica
One of the projects is led by Cynthia Mojica, PhD, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.
Dr. Mojica’s project, called Salud San Antonio!, will allow her to position four community health workers (promotoras) at four community health groups to deliver a cancer education and outreach program to increase screening rates and knowledge of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer among Latinas living in 10 zip codes in San Antonio’s West and South sides.
These zip codes have been identified by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District as high-risk areas for public health problems and have a median household income of $26,824 and are 82% Latino.
The four promotoras will conduct outreach and small group sessions to educate Latinas on risk factors, screening tests and the benefits of early detection. Women considered “rarely or never screened” – identified at community events and via clinics – will be encouraged to obtain a mammogram, Pap test, or blood stool test. Women in need of screening will be given a list of clinics that offer no- or low-cost services and receive a phone call to determine if they have scheduled a screening appointment.
Final screening status will be assessed three months after the small group session.
“We believe that Salud San Antonio! will increase much-needed knowledge and screening behavior among Latinas in San Antonio,” said Dr. Mojica, who also is a member of the Health Science Center’s Cancer Therapy & Research Center. “If successful, this educational model can be exported to other high-risk populations in South Texas and other largely Latino areas in Texas.”
Get Screened! March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Mar 11th
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. The risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with advancing age.
Hispanics suffer high rates of colon cancer, compared to other groups.
But the good news is that, if everyone aged 50 years old or older were screened regularly, as many as 60% of deaths from this cancer could be avoided, according to CDC statistics.
Why should you get screened? Watch this heartfelt Spanish-language PSA here or below to find out:
Younger Hispanic Adults’ Sleep Habits Linked to Diabetes
Mar 10th
Younger adults who get either little sleep or a lot of it may see a greater expansion in their waistlines over time, a new study suggests, Reuters reports.
Among black and Hispanic adults younger than 40, those who typically slept for five hours or less a night had a greater accumulation of belly fat over the next five years, versus those who averaged six or seven hours.
Those who logged eight hours or more in bed each night also showed a bigger fat gain — but it was less substantial than that seen in “short sleepers.”
The study, reported in the journal Sleep, does not prove that too little or too much sleep directly leads to excess fat gain. But the findings support and extend those of other studies linking sleep duration — particularly a lack of sleep — to weight gain and even to higher risks of diabetes and heart disease.
NEW LATINO PSA: Brothers Make ‘Promesa’ to Get Screened
Mar 9th
To all Latinos: In honor of March being colon cancer awareness month, be sure to watch this heartfelt PSA in English or Spanish about how two brothers keep a promise to stay healthy and get screened for colon cancer.
Watch it below in Spanish, and be sure to add your comment about the PSA:
Or watch it in English:
San Antonio Students Can Grow at ‘Spurs Community Garden’
Mar 8th
San Antonio area students ages 8 to 17 are invited to join a fun, high-energy workshop on gardening, eating right and physical activity in the San Antonio Food Bank’s “Spurs Community Garden.”
The course, which will be taught an experienced master gardener, runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 24, 2010, at the food bank, 5200 Old Hwy 90.
The application deadline is April 9. Space is limited. Students must be accompanied by a teacher or parent.
For information, contact Liset Leal-Vasquez at 210-451-9424 or liset.lealvasquez@healthiergeneration.org.
Study: BOUNCE Helps Latino Moms, Daughters Get Fit
Mar 2nd
Dr. Norma Olvera, a pilot researcher of the Salud America! Latino childhood obesity prevention network, which is led by the team behind Salud Today, had her research on an after-school program for Latinas selected for publication in a special supplement of the journal Obesity.
Dr. Norma Olvera
Dr. Olvera, from the University of Houston, assessed the efficacy of a family-based exploratory community study, BOUNCE (Behavior Opportunities Uniting Nutrition, Counseling, and Exercise), to increase physical fitness and activity in low-income Latino mothers and daughters. Mother-daughter pairs went through a 12-week exercise, nutrition education, and counseling intervention.
The BOUNCE intervention had a significant effect on Latina daughters’ aerobic capacity.
Both mothers and daughters reported a higher reduction of high fat food and sugary beverages and an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, compared to control-group daughters.