Miami Program Aims To Teach Hispanics About Healthy Food Choices; Grants Fund Refugee Services In Indiana, Substance Abuse Services For American Ind.

Create Your Weight: The 10-week, no-cost diet program aimed at Hispanics kicked off at Aventura Hospital in Miami last week. The program is offered completely in Spanish and teaches Hispanics about healthy food choices, cooking and exercise. The program aims to "lure people away from fast-food restaurants and toward the healthier foods of their culture: corn, beans, rice, lean cuts of fish and chicken," the Miami Herald reports. The Florida Department of Health's Hispanic Obesity Prevention and Education program is funding the program with a $20,000 grant (Amerikaner, Miami Herald, 1/13).


Fort Wayne, Ind.: Charities in northeastern Indiana have received $133,000 in grants from Catholic Charities to help provide health services to refugees expected from Myanmar over the next year. An estimated 800 to 1,000 refugees from Myanmar are expected to settle in Fort Wayne in 2008. According to the AP/WLFI, about 40% of adult refugees are expected to have latent tuberculosis and hepatitis, while many child refugees have low body weights (AP/WLFI, 1/12).


Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council: The council has received a three-year, $5.6 million federal grant that it will use to help American Indian communities fight substance use. The money will go to Rocky Mountain Tribal Access to Recovery, a new program that aims to broaden treatment and support systems. The program offers services such as transportation, child care, cultural mentoring, spiritual support and programs for sober recreation and exercise (Cochran, Billings Gazette, 1/15).


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