Latino children accounted for the highest increase in severe obesity among preschool-aged children from low-income households, a new CDC study found.
The study examined children aged 2 to 4 under the enrollment of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which is a federal nutrition assistance program aimed at providing healthy foods for low-income women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or postpartum, and children up to 5 years old, from 2010 to 2020.
When the study began in 2010, 2.1% of children aged 2 to 4 in WIC were severely obese.
A downward trend in severe obesity occurred for the next several years, when rates in that age group went from 2.1% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2016, the CDC study found.
However, by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number spiked back up to 2% in ...
During the summer months children are at a higher risk of obesity, according to the American Heart Association. This is concerning considering obesity rates are already sky-high in young Latino boys (30%) and girls (23%). But what exactly causes this increased risk for obesity during the summer? Let’s explore four factors that contribute to weight gain in Latino children during the summer and how we can break this cycle of poor health into the new school year and beyond.
Increased Sedentary Behavior
During the school year, households operate around a steady flow of activities, like school sports, that help keep children active. During the summer, children may lose access to school-related activities that promote exercise. That’s why visiting parks, lakes, and hiking ...
In the last few years, childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. The effort to change individual choices – like diet and physical activity – hasn’t solved the problem, and also contributes to weight discrimination. That is why we need to use cultural insights, nutritional science, and a systemic focus to improve child health, according to a new report from the Vanderbilt University Cultural Context of Health and Wellbeing Initiative. “What we label ‘obesity’ is produced by interrelated systems in which human biology interacts with environments, social norms, economic structures, and historical legacies,” according to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation blog post about the report, Reframing Childhood Obesity: Cultural Insights on Nutrition, Weight and Food ...
Latinos tend live in neighborhoods with few supermarkets and other sources of healthy, affordable food options, but several promising solutions are emerging, according to a new package of research from Salud America!, a national network for Latino childhood obesity prevention funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Salud America!’s Better Food in the Neighborhood research package includes an in-depth review of the latest science on the U.S. Latino food environment and policy implications based on that research. It also includes an issue brief, animated video, and infographics. The research shows that Latino neighborhoods have one-third as many supermarkets as non-Latino ones, corner stores with few healthy options, and ...
Did you know kids gain more weight during their summer vacation than they do the entire school year? That’s why Salud America! and San Antonio celebrity Chef Johnny Hernandez are partnering to launch #SaludSummer, a social media recipe-sharing campaign to promote healthy—and fun—eating for families during the summer. Starting on July 1, the campaign will use #SaludSummer to share one new kid-friendly recipe a week on social media by Chef Johnny, who puts his passion for Latino flavors, including fresh fruit cups, licuados (smoothies), and tortas into practice at his restaurants in San Antonioand Las Vegas. People also can share photos of their own healthy foods on social media using #SaludSummer and be entered into a random drawing for a grand prize—a Jawbone fitness ...
