The Latino Nutrition Coalition works to inspire Latinos to improve their health through traditional foods and active lifestyles. We create practical, bi-lingual materials that combine the best of healthy food traditions with the realities of modern American life.
News You Use
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Whole Grains Help Those with Diabetes
Women with diabetes who ate a diet rich in bran-containing foods had a significantly lower death rate in a long-term study, researchers report. READ MORE...
White House Dinner Showcases Mexican Food
For President Obama’s second state dinner, the White House has asked Chicago chef Rick Bayless to prepare elegant Mexican food in honor of President Felipe Calderón of Mexico. READ MORE...
What "group" of children and teens are more likely to be obese?
A new study shows that low-income, minority and publicly-insured children and teens keep getting fatter and their health risks continue to increase. Read More...
What time of life establishes the parameters for future weight?
It's never too late for parents and doctors to help children who are overweight or obese to lose weight. But obesity research is pointing more and more to a pivotal time of life when the parameters for future weight appear to be established. And that time period is before conception to age 2. Read More...
Debunk Myths and Learn the Facts, in The Latina Guide to Health
Dr. Jane Delgado, head of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and a practicing clinical psychologist, reveals some surprising news about what every woman can learn in her new book, The Latina Guide to Health, published simultaneously with the Spanish-language edition, La Guia De Salud...Read More
Spanish Heart Healthy Resources Now Available!
Our friends at the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition have released The Road to a Healthy Heart & Healthy Family, a bilingual booklet created to help Hispanic patients set positive goals for heart health. Click here to download the complete resource containing valuable tips and culturally relevant graphics and foods.
Whole Grains Take a Bite Out of Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Brown rice is better than white rice at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but whole grains are the most effective at lowering the risk, according to a new study by the American Heart Association. ....Read More
Family Routines Help Prevent Obesity
Go back to the basics. That is what a new study published in the journal, Pediatrics, suggests doing to prevent your child from becoming obese. It revealed that returning to traditional family routines, such as eating dinner with the family, turning off the TV, and getting a good night’s sleep could cut the risk of your child becoming obese by 40 percent...Read More
Cocoa and Heart Health
Chocolate is rich in flavor, but did you know it is also rich in antioxidants? Flavanoids, which are found in cocoa and other foods, are compounds with anti-inflammatory effects....Read More
Sons of Immigrants
According to new data released by the Migration Information Source, sons of immigrants to the United States have higher levels of childhood obesity than native-born boys ...Read More
Soy and Type-2 Diabetes
Soy foods are excellent sources of lean protein, fiber, vitamins and polyunsaturated fats, making them a smart choice for heart health. A recent study recruited type-2 diabetics to find if supplementation with soy proteins...Read More
Vitamin D and Bone Health
Vitamin D is an important component in bone growth and organ function in the human body. This vitamin assists with calcium absorption, and when levels are suboptimal it increases the risk of bone fracture and low bone density...Read More
Preventing Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy. Just like the other types of diabetes, it affects the way your body uses blood sugar (glucose)...Read More
Promoting Healthy Body Esteem among Latinas
Spanish-speaking Latinas are responding strongly to the message of the No te hagas pequeña ™ Campaign, the first healthy body esteem campaign created by Latinas for Latinas in the U.S. Literally, the message says “don't make yourself small.” In English, this would best translate as "don't make yourself less" or "Don't shrink your stature."
“When I heard No te hagas pequeña I jumped because I immediately recognized that 'Yes, I am NOT small,'” said Migdalia Santiago, a social worker from New York City who joined the campaign. “When I read the free ebook, Blessings for your Body, I recognized how this feeling of being small held me back from growing into my full power. Now I recognize that I am a great human being with big contributions to make to society.”
The No te hagas pequeña ™ Campaign helps Hispanic women to love their bodies unconditionally so they can reclaim their health and power from a space of self-love. Its message goes to the core of the profound disempowerment many Latinas experience when they feel inadequate and insufficient. The campaign empowers, inspires and motivates them to reclaim their greatness.
“Loving and honoring our bodies is essential for our empowerment, for our health and well being,” said Corazon Tierra, creator of the campaign and healthy body esteem expert. “That’s why we encourage Hispanic women to love their bodies as they are and to occupy their rightful space in the world.“
The No te hagas pequeña ™ Campaign offers free online educational resources in Spanish, live events and books to help Latinas in their path to healthy body esteem. For more information visit the website or contact Corazon Tierra.
Website:
http://www.notehagaspequena.com
Blog:
http://www.cuerpoadentro.wordpress.com
Contact:
Corazon Tierra
corazon@notehagaspequena.com
**Blessings for your Body, a free ebook for you
Inspire yourself to love your body unconditionally with the ebook Blessings for your Body, a gift from the No te hagas pequeña ™ Campaign! Author and healthy body esteem expert Corazon Tierra shares a magical story about body self-esteem. Then she offers you daily tips that help you to love and honor your body.
Community Matters
Are you involved with a local effort to help Latinos take charge of their health and discover the strength of community support? The LNC wants to hear from you! We’re building this community page to learn about nationwide efforts to promote the importance of friends, family, culture, and how the use of healthy traditional foods impacts overall Latino wellness.
Each week we’ll highlight a new group or program, and present updates on previously listed initiatives. Please contact us and tell us what you’re doing so we can create a clearinghouse of ideas that will hopefully teach, inspire, and motivate others to do their part in making their own community a healthy, invigorating place to live.
Spotlight Feature: The Greenfield Walking Community
Location: Bakersfield, CA Contact: Jennifer Lopez, Healthy Living Outreach Facilitator (661) 205-3743
Bakersfield mothers Gema Perez and Daliflor Loya met in 2006 during course, littered with hypodermic needles, broken bottles, aggressive stray dogs, roving gang members and shot-out lights. Not only was the park dangerous, so was the route to get there, with pedestrians having to cross four lanes of high-speed traffic. (Gema Perez featured above).
The walking group decided to take action. With the help of Jennifer Lopez of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, the group spearheaded a Walkability Assessment in the spring of 2007. They invited other residents, along with representatives from city agencies including police, maintenance, recreation and parks, and animal control, to tour the neighborhood together and identify problem areas. Armed with the data they had collected, they sat down with city officials who agreed to work with them to help clean up the park and make it safe for families, and to provide the resources and services needed to maintain those improvements....
To read more about this exciting program as well as other inspiring Latino initiatives, click here. |
a nutrition class at the Greenfield Family Resource Center. Recognizing that physical activity was as critical to good health as eating right, they banded together to start the Greenfield Walking Group. That fall, two dozen women, many of them Spanish-speaking farm workers, began meeting for a daily walk and aerobic workout in the city's Steirn Park. The park, however, was a hazardous obstacle
See What's Cooking in Sarita's Kitchen
In the Kitchen This Week: Super Cilantro Have you ever put something in your mouth and known immediately whether or not you liked or hated it? Well, cilantro typically evokes those strong feelings, one way or the other. Personally, I try to add cilantro to every dish possible, and I could not even imagine fresh salsa without it. |
The LNC is putting Sarita to work! Stop by her kitchen each week, to read "Sarita's Sensations" – or sign up at the left, to have it delivered directly to your desktop. From delicious, healthy recipes, to fabulous, featured ingredients – Sarita would like to share her fresh ideas with you each week.
LNC Online Community
In the spirit of building a strong online community, the LNC's invites everyone to take part in our blog,'Sarita's Kitchen'. Looking for tips to improve your health? Want to speak up about a topic that is on your mind? Sarita’s blog features news pieces, health information, fitness tips – you name it! Check in each week to connect with your Latino community
And now, tune in every Friday as the Latino Nutrition Coalition and Sarita celebrate the upcoming weekend by featuring a song on Sarita's Shakedown that makes you want to get up and dance! Sometimes they're voted on by our Twitter followers, and sometimes they're our personal favorites. Plus, dancing around your living room for 30 minutes can burn up to 300 calories!
For those of you who use Twitter, make sure to follow us!
https://twitter.com/LatinoNutrition
Camino Mágico Bilingual Shopping Guide
Eating healthy starts with shopping healthy. With the millions of products on grocery store shelves, making healthy shopping choices can be difficult.
The LNC launched Camino Mágico, the first comprehensive bilingual supermarket shopping guide targeting the Latino community, in May of 2007, to help Latino shoppers make healthy choices among the endless food options available at supermarkets today.
The LNC created the Camino Magico to encourage Latinos to reconnect with their food traditions and help them locate healthy, traditional products. The guide contains:
- Nutritional guidelines based on the Latin American Diet Pyramid
- 16 meal ideas (for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) as well as a grocery list of all ingredients needed for the featured meals.
- Balanced plate image
- Basics of reading food labels
To access a downloadable version of Camino Mágico visit or to purchase a copy for your family or business, visit our Resources page for more information.