Rosalie Aguilar

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio | UT HSC · Dean's Office School of Dentistry

Salud America! is a national network created to engage Latino researchers, health professionals and community leaders in actions to reduce Latino childhood obesity. An online survey of 148 Salud America! network members investigated relationships between (1) their levels of engagement with the network, (2) self- and collective-efficacy, and (3) beh...

Background: The Internet has quickly become a primary source and channel for distributing a multitude of health messages. To ensure health messages are effective and well-received, health communication researchers are constantly seeking new communication strategies to improve health literacy. One of the challenges associated with the widespread ava...

Due to the increased risk obese individuals have for developing chronic diseases it is important to determine whether antioxidant status is related to adiposity. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Approximately 3,755 non-smoking individuals ages of 20...

U.S. Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than non-Latino Whites. To raise awareness of and action around this rising public health issue, Salud America!, a national Latino health advocacy network, organized three #SaludTues tweetchats on Twitter between 2018 and 2020. For the three Alzheimer’s tweetchats ─Aug. 14,...

Background: U.S. Latinos suffer a disproportionate burden of health disparities largely related to lifestyle factors, social determinants of health and barriers in access to healthcare. Disparities in childhood obesity are especially alarming with 39% of Latino children compared to 32% of all other children classified as overweight or obese. A grow...

In response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2020, the national Salud America! Latino health equity program at University of Texas Health San Antonio applied its digital content curation model to create and communicate culturally relevant news, stories, and data to raise immediate awareness and generate action against the pandemic’s inequitable...

Background Latinx people comprise 18% of the US adult population and a large share of youth and continue to experience inequities that perpetuate health disparities. To engage Latinx people in advocacy for health equity based on this population’s heavy share of smartphone, social media, and Twitter users, Salud America! launched the #SaludTues Twee...

BACKGROUND Latinx people comprise 18% of the US adult population and a large share of youth and continue to experience inequities that perpetuate health disparities. To engage Latinx people in advocacy for health equity based on this population’s heavy share of smartphone, social media, and Twitter users, Salud America! launched the #SaludTues Twee...

Latino children comprise nearly 1 in 4 of the U.S. youth population, yet disparities in obesity are widespread and use of mental health care services among this group remain low. According to a recent research review conducted by Salud America!, 22% of Latino kids face depressive symptoms--a rate higher than all other groups other than Native Ameri...

Evidence suggests that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs or “sugary drinks”) has increased alarmingly over the past decades, and Latino youths consume more sugary drinks, and at younger ages, than the overall average. Salud America!—a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded national network of researchers, decision-makers, and othe...

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 pee...

Introduction Because limited resources exist on promoting best practices for preventing childhood obesity in Latinos, Salud America! launched an online platform—Growing Healthy Change—that provides news, resources, and stories to educate Latinos about the latest community change strategies. The new platform features data-infused mapping capabilit...

Introduction: In lower-income Latino communities, corner stores and fast-food restaurants are widespread, but supermarkets and farmers’ markets, which can offer affordable fresh and healthy options, are scarce. To identify healthy food financing initiatives to address healthy food access specifically among Latinos, Salud America!—a Robert Wood Joh...