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Working Towards Equity by Creating Safe Places for Activity: A Look at Shared-Use and the Built Environment in Latino Communities
As the US Latino youth population grows rapidly, there is increased concern as to whether Latino children have equal opportunities for safe places to play.
Evidence indicates that Latinos are less likely to live near parks and safe places of recreation, thereby contributing to higher obesity rates among Latino children (39%) compared to white peers (32%).
To determine the specific disparities Latinos face in access to places for activity, Salud America!—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national network of researchers to prevent childhood obesity among Latinos—conducted a comprehensive research review of studies and policies related to shared-use agreements and street-scale improvements.
The network’s review revealed that Latino children were more likely to live in communities with fewer recreation facilities and unsafe streets.
Although shared-use agreements can increase access to public spaces for Latinos, shared-use of facilities declined nationwide from 35% to 29% during 2000-2006. This decline could be due to increased concerns about liability and a lack of funding for such initiatives.
Based on these results Salud America! developed the online Growing Healthy Change platform to prompt community wide partnerships and policies like shared-use agreements and Complete Streets. Growing Healthy Change uses an evidence-based policy spectrum to reach Latino communities and provide them with up-to-date information on effective strategies for enacting policies to improve the built environment and enable Latino children to have access to safe places to play. Salud Hero stories, maps and toolkits further instruct users on how to elicit community support for such initiatives.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health educationChronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Name two solutions that remove barriers to physical activity for Latino children and enable them to have equal access to safe places to play.
Explain how Salud America! is working to increase knowledge of shared-use agreements and improvements to the built environment in Latino communities.
Keyword(s): Built Environment, Child Health Promotion
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have curated information from journals, reports, RSS feeds, and news reports to be used for a dynamic on-line Latino Childhood Obesity advocacy project to promote awareness and policy change.
I have an M.S. in Health and Kinesiology and work at a research institute that promotes Latino health.
Additionally, I have collaborated in the design and testing of the functionality for the Salud America! on-line Growing Healthy Changes Platform.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.