Texans, You Can Weigh in on Obesity-Reduction Efforts
Aug 19th
Texas adults are the 15th-most obese in the nation and 40% of Texas children are overweight or obese, which can lead to serious health concerns and increased health care costs.
Obesity is a multi-faceted problem and will require a comprehensive, collaborative systems change approach involving families, workplaces, schools, communities, organizations, business and industry, academic institutions, and local and state governments.
Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children is among the initiatives in the state that are addressing the burden of obesity.
CPRIT invites comments on the following questions:
- Given current efforts in Texas that address obesity research, prevention, and control, where are the gaps? What other evidence, research, programs, or services are needed to fill these gaps?
- Given CPRIT’s mission to fund innovation in cancer prevention and research, what unique niche, if any, should CPRIT attempt to fill?
You are invited to e-mail an answer to these questions (no longer than one page) to RFI@cprit.state.tx.us by Sept. 20, 2010. All ideas submitted will be reviewed by and distributed to CPRIT program staff and advisory groups. CPRIT will use these ideas to consider its role in addressing the burden of obesity in Texas.
CPRIT Call for Abstracts
Jul 12th
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is seeking abstracts
for the inaugural Innovations in Cancer Prevention and Research conference to be held
Nov. 17-19, 2010 in Austin, Texas.
Abstracts must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2010.
Abstracts topic areas include:
- Cancer biology and genetics
- Cancer immunology
- Cancer imaging and diagnostics
- Cancer epidemiology and outcomes research
- Cancer treatment including drug discovery and development and clinical trials
- Health promotion, education and training for public and health care professional audiences
- Evidence-based primary prevention, early detection, and survivorship services
View other details about the abstract submission process here.
National Latino Family Expo
Jul 6th
The National Council of La Raza will present a family expo Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
It is free and open to the general public.
The expo hall will be divided into seven different pavilions, allowing participants to experience a variety of activities in theme areas including community, culture and history, technology and environment and health and fitness, which will feature cooking demonstrations, health screenings focusing on vision, lung health, and blood pressure, and group exercise classes.
Career resources will include networking opportunities and access to more than 20 national and local companies with job opportunities.
Go here for more information.
Most Texas School Kids Failing in Recess
Jul 5th
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 standard.
Part of the problem is that today’s lifestyles are very different than a generation ago, said Laura Esparza, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.
Laura Esparza
“We have essentially engineered physical activity out of our lives—most kids ride to school (cars, buses) instead of walk, many kids do not spend time playing outside in their free time, instead they stay inside and watch TV and play video games—the cumulative result is kids are less active and less physically fit,” Esparza said. “We need to be sure to support efforts to improve the quality of physical education offered to high school kids as well as the variety of activities offered. We also should support efforts outside of school to educate kids and their parents about the many benefits of a physically active lifestyle.”
One current program that aims to change these numbers is the IHPR’s unique collaboration with Girls Scouts.
Led by Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina and Esparza, the collaboration is bringing together Girl Scouts, parents and community leaders to collect information and discover the enablers and barriers to physical activity among Latina girls ages 11-14. The researchers will use this information to devise new strategies to get girls moving. They plan to use low-cost mobile and wireless technology, like text-messaging.
“Regular activity, in school and out, is what will change those fitness numbers,” Esparza said.
Texas Seeks to Fund Health Equity Projects
Apr 30th
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is seeking applications for Health Equity Projects that expand and enhance organizations’ efforts to design, implement, and evaluate programming to reduce health disparities and promote health literacy among underserved communities in Texas.
The projects seek to support community-based organizations with a focus on health and human service, such as faith-based groups and non-profit entities that employ community-based practices to reduce health disparities.
Local and state agencies also may apply.
For details, go here.
Roundup: The Latest in Latino Childhood Obesity
Apr 29th
Check out this latest news and research in the epidemic of childhood obesity among Latinos:
Texas: Girl Scouts involved in research project to promote physical activity
To identify ways to get Latinas ages 11-14 moving more, Girl Scouts in South Texas are using Photovoice, in which community members use images to share their perspectives on issues to spark change. The project is part of a larger study led by The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.
Arizona: Kids in lower-income families battling obesity
Southern Arizona children are suffering from adult afflictions, and doctors blame it on a troubling surge in childhood obesity. Lifestyle, diet, genetics, and population growth among Hispanics, an at-risk group, all are contributing to the rise. But low socioeconomic status seems to be the major factor.
Tennessee: Health food void in low-income areas may feed obesity
In Nashville’s poorest communities, body mass indexes, a critical weight to height ratio and measure of health, are on average higher than in other neighborhoods. And there are hints that the reason for that difference may not lie only between individual plates and mouths, but in what food can be found closest to Nashville’s poorest homes.
How the family environment impacts obesity in Latino children
Parents of overweight, elementary-school-aged Latino children provide less support to engage in activity and set fewer limits on their child’s activities, according to a study in the Journal of School Health. Study authors suggest that the environments in which Latino kids are reared may play a vital role in determining their risk for obesity.
Roundup: Upcoming Events
Apr 26th
Check out these upcoming events related to Latino health:
Diabetes and Minorities: A Shared Disparity
With April being National Minority Health Awareness Month, the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Office for the Elimination of Health Disparities is conducting a lunch lecture at noon Wednesday, April 28, 2010, in Austin, Texas. The lecture will focus on the prevalence of diabetes and its effect on minority populations, including Hispanics, American Indians, and African Americans. For details, e-mail OEHD@hhsc.state.tx.us.
Latino Health Equity Conference
Familias En Acción has scheduled the 2010 and Beyond: Latino Health Equity Conference for May 20, 2010, in Portland, Ore. The conference will feature Latino health researchers. For details, go here.
Cool Links, Reports on Hot Minority Health Topics
Apr 15th
Here’s a list of cool health links and reports on hot topics from the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Medical and Research Library:
Hispanic Diabetes Disparities Network: This report describes the development of a learning network project that included interventions and needs assessments at community health centers to help reduce the diabetes disparity in the Hispanic population. It is provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
http://www.ahrq.gov/research/diabetesnetwork/
Health Care Reform: A recent Consumer’s Guide is available from the Kaiser Foundation http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/March/22/consumers-guide-health-reform.aspx
Family Food Decision-Making Discussion Guide: This guide, produced by Cornell University, encourages families to analyze their own food decisions, build goals, and implement change in their eating habits.
http://familyfood.human.cornell.edu/ffdm_tool.html
Aging Texas Well Issue Brief Series has reports by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services on physical health and also on mental health & substance abuse of people older than age 60 in Texas.
http://www.dads.state.tx.us/services/agingtexaswell/issuebriefs/index.cfm
Health Education Resource Exchange is an online clearinghouse compiled by the Washington State Dept. of Health of public health education and health promotion materials including posters, brochures, fact sheets and other educational materials. Most of them may be downloaded and many languages are available.
http://here.doh.wa.gov/materials-projects
Health Indicators a Webinar series by the National Library of Medicine explains what health indicators are and how to find and use the data to engage with communities.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/healthindicators/index.html
Screening for Obesity in Children: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that clinicians screen children aged 6 years and older for obesity and offer them or refer them to comprehensive, intensive behavioral interventions to promote improvement in weight status.
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspschobes.htm
Support for Low-Income Individuals and Families: A Review of Recent Government Accountability Office Work is available in report GAO-10-342R, issued February 22, 2010.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-342R
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.
RWJF Grants Help Communities Like San Antonio, TX, Tackle Child Obesity
Jan 14th
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded multi-year grants to 41 communities across the country in an expansion of a landmark program to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.
One of the sites is San Antonio, Texas, one of the nation’s most historic cities, and one of the heaviest.
Local leaders in this predominantly Hispanic city have been addressing the issue through multiple lenses as they work to combat rates of obesity and overweight as high as 76 percent. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health) and San Antonio Restaurant Association recently formed a partnership to press for healthier restaurant menus. By introducing options with lower calories, fat and sugar, they hope, restaurants will create greater consumer demand for such foods. A small pilot is already under way at a Mexican restaurant.
Now the health department will lead more than a dozen agencies and organizations in an initiative to reduce childhood obesity through policy and environmental changes. With funding through Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, the groups will work in schools and neighborhoods as well as restaurants.
“San Antonio is known as a fun place to live and a great place to visit, but it has not always embraced healthy behaviors as they relate to physical activity and food,” project director Bryan J. Alsip said. “As in any community, the more barriers that are present for healthy eating and active living, the more difficult the challenge. We are looking to remove those obstacles and get the community to take advantage of new and healthier opportunities.”
The Healthy Active San Antonio partnership will aim to expand residents’ use of school gyms, playgrounds and other facilities outside of regular hours. It will push to have new development and redevelopment projects incorporate Complete Streets design into their planning. Finally, it will continue the work with local restaurants on healthy food and beverage guidelines, with potential incentives to recruit participants and encourage the guidelines’ adoption.
Read more about the effort in San Antonio here. Read about the 40 other sites here.