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Hidalgo Couty, Tex., is one of the fastest growing places in the nation. It also has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, which has led almost 40 percent of residents to enroll in the food-stamp program. But the cheap foods families can afford on the standard government allotment also tend to be among the least nutritious, which results in rates of diabetes and obesity that double the national average. Fifth in a series.
The percentage of overweight Latino youth in the U.S. has doubled in the last 10 years, according to national data. A December 2011 report from Salud America! concludes that there is a need to develop modified social marketing messages and other communication strategies to promote healthy food purchasing and consumption among Latinos. The organization examined how educational intervention could be used to encourage healthier eating habits among low-income Spanish-speaking Latinos.
Ensuring access to comprehensive grocery stores that offer healthy and affordable foods is central to eradicating hunger, according to “How Far Would You Drive for Fresh Food: Some Rural New Hampshire Residents Navigate a Dismal Food Landscape,” a research brief by the Carsey Institute. The brief reports the experiences of 18 rural New Hampshire families who often struggle to obtain healthy foods.
Pediatric obesity has dramatically increased in the past three decades, particularly among low-income and minority adolescents. The study evaluates a community-based obesity prevention program with an eye toward determining if home and community activities can reduce the prevalence of pediatric obesity among urban, black adolescents.
About one-third of children who enter Head Start, the nation’s largest federally funded education program for preschool children, are overweight or obese. Because young children are increasingly spending time in child care and early childhood education programs, focusing on these settings is critical to a comprehensive approach to reducing obesity. But a study -- co-authored by researchers at Temple University and Mathematica Policy Research -- finds that Head Start program directors lack the money, time and knowledge to adequately address obesity.
Doctors typically wait until medical complications arise before they begin treatment for childhood obesity. But the study's findings indicate that the "tipping point" in determining obesity occurs very early in life -- as early as when infants are first learning how much to eat and what to eat.
This CDC study finds that while one in seven low-income, preschool-aged children is obe
The prevalence of obesity in the United States has more than doubled in the past three
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