Children as young as age 2 are seeing more fast food ads than ever, and restaurants rarely offer healthy kids’ meal choices, according to a new study by Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The new evaluation, the most comprehensive study of fast food nutrition and marketing ever conducted, studied marketing efforts of 12 of the nation’s largest fast food chains, and examined the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in more than 3,000 kids’ meal combinations and menu items. The study is being presented today at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting. Some alarming findings include: Out of 3,039 possible kids’ meal combinations, only 12 meet the researchers’ nutrition criteria for preschoolers. Only 15 meet nutrition criteria for older ...
The New Mexico Office of Border Health (OBH) has received an award for its bilingual fotonovela (photo novel), “I Wish I had Known,” which tells of one Latino family's struggle with obesity and diabetes. This fotonovela was recognized by the National Public Health Information Coalition for the Bronze Award of Excellence in Public Health Communication/In-House Health Literacy. View the fotonovela in English or Spanish. View the film version here. For additional information, contact Liz Gutierrez at (575) 528-5146 or ...
During Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Nov. 2, Latino families gather to remember relatives who have died and often honor their memory by preparing the relative’s favorite foods. This is an opportunity to celebrate and incorporate traditional, healthy Mexican eating patterns into American diets. Studies show that, as U.S. Latinos become more “Americanized,” eating patterns shift to include more fast food and sugar-sweetened beverages and less fruit. Coupled with less active lifestyles, these new eating patterns can lead to weight gain, obesity and diabetes in adults and children. “Día de los Muertos is an opportunity for families to celebrate their culture and improve their health with more traditional eating patterns,” said Monica Montes, registered dietitian ...
Childhood obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the nation, especially among Latinos. About 20% of Latino children between ages 12-19 are obese, compared to 18% of all American children. "You can say it's the main problem facing our community," said Dr. Felipe Lobelo, who specializes in nutrition, physical activity, and obesity at the CDC. "Unfortunately, we (Hispanics) are among the groups with the highest rates of obesity in both adults and children, and we have to do something about it." Dr. Lobelo offered these tips to help parents get started on preventing obesity: 1) Eat more fruits and vegetables. Eating fruits and vegetables is essential to fighting childhood obesity. Parents and guardians can add fruits to their kids' diet by chopping them up and ...
Parents, especially minorities, tend to underreport their children's weight, meaning estimates of obesity and body mass index (BMI) based on parent-supplied data may miss one in five obese children, according to research presented at the recent 57th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. Researchers compared the measured height and weight of 1,430 children at a clinic with the values their parents reported. Almost half of the parents underestimated their child’s weight. Hispanic/Latino and black parents made larger errors than white ...
Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, which is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is observing National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and encouraging people to join us and get involved. Earlier this year, a resolution was unanimously passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate designating September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, to bring attention to this growing epidemic. Mexican-American children are more likely to be obese or overweight (38%) than children overall (31.9%), putting them at greater risk for chronic disease and shorter lifespans. In repsonse, Salud America! formed in 2008 to increase the number of researchers, ...
Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has updated its Overweight and Obesity Among Latino Youths fact sheets, which highlights the prevalence, consequences and causes of overweight and obesity among Latino youths, in both English and Spanish. While childhood obesity has increased significantly throughout the general population, children from minority communities have been disproportionately affected. Sharply higher rates of overweight and obesity have occurred among Latino, African-American and Native American children and adolescents. We at SaludToday hope you read the fact sheet and get motivated to do something about ...
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has launched its Multicultural Newsroom, a dynamic online resource that aims to provide extensive health-related information for anyone involved in improving the health and health care of African-Americans and Latinos in the U.S. Through a multicultural lens and bilingual messaging, the site presents information, images and videos on the RWJF work under way in African-American and Latino communities across the country, such as: Profiles of key leaders, programs and projects that RWJF supports in these communities
RWJF news releases, fact sheets and research findings that are of particular relevance to African-Americans and Latinos.
Speeches, commentary and discussion by RWJF leaders and experts on issues such as disparities in health ...
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is seeking input related to the current landscape of obesity research, policy and systems change, and prevention and control programs in Texas; and what unique role CPRIT could have in addressing the obesity burden. 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 ...
