Your Tax Dollars at Work: Latino Obesity Division
04/16/2011
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Say, isn't the federal government $14 trillion in the hole? An easy target for financial pruning would be this boondoggle: an educational program to cut obesity among a certain tribal group.

Why does this bunch need a big infusion of ethno-specific funding? Don't kids still learn about the basic food pyramid in grade school?

Cal State Long Beach gets $3.75M federal grant to combat obesity in Latino community, Van Nuys Daily News, April 4, 2011

LONG BEACH - A health research center at Cal State Long Beach was awarded a $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop classes and programs aimed at combating obesity in the Latino community, the university announced Monday.

The grant was awarded to the National Council of La Raza-Cal State Long Beach Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training.

"Within the five-year grant time frame, we will be able to develop and integrate a graduate certificate in Latino nutrition, chronic disease and childhood obesity to our university's larger curricular fabric," principal investigator Britt Rios-Ellis said.

Each year, seven research fellowships and full-tuition scholarships will be provided to graduate students who will be trained to conduct community- based research on childhood obesity prevention within the Latino community, according to the center.

As a result, project officials hope to bolster the number of Latino graduate students with masters degrees in nutrition and public health.

"Our health science and nutrition graduates will join a legion of new leaders to improve the well-being of our Latino population," according to Gail Frank, CSULB nutrition professor. "It is such a privilege to be recognized for our approach and to obtain strong federal funding from USDA to continue our programs."

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