Latino Students Have High Exposure to Unhealthy Snacks at School
Latino students are widely exposed to high-fat, high-sugar snacks and drinks sold in schools, but implementing stronger nutritional standards can yield healthier school snacks for this growing
population at high risk of obesity, according to a new package of research materials released today by
Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children.
The new Salud America! “Healthier School Snacks & Latino Kids” research materials, which can be found at
www.salud-america.org, include:
This is the first of six new research material packages to be released over the summer by
Salud America!, each of which will focus on a specific topic on Latino childhood obesity and highlight the issue, policy implications and future research areas.
The “Healthier School Snacks & Latino Kids” package highlights the fact that young people consume a high proportion of their daily calories at school.
“Research shows that access to unhealthy snack foods and beverages in schools has a disproportionately negative health influence among Latino students, and schools with a higher proportion of Latino
students tend to have weaker policies regarding access to and nutritional values of these items,” said Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America!,
based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
“By 2050, 35 percent of young people in the U.S. will be Latino. Providing healthier school snacks and drinks can help make sure this growing population is healthy,” Ramirez said.
To learn more, visit
www.salud-america.org.
Tracy Fox, MPH, RD
President, Food, Nutrition & Policy Consultants, LLC
Washington, DC
@TracyFoxRD
cell: 301-922-3570