The UT Healthier Youth Recipe and Resource Booklet

The UT Health San Antonio Libraries serve as a Resource Library of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for the South Central area of Texas. The major health concerns facing residents of South Central Texas continue to include diabetes, communicable diseases, cancer, and obesity. It is commonly accepted that health literacy rates remain low in the U.S. population at large but at even lower rates in underserved, Hispanic, and immigrant populations, which are large populations in South Central Texas. Sustainable community engagement leading to lasting collaborations with these populations is vital in order to impact health literacy rates. In 2017, UT Health San Antonio Libraries received an NNLM SCR Express Outreach Award to provide the Youth Health Literacy Challenge, a program in which activity logs and calendars were distributed to youth participating in the North East Independent School District NEISD Summer Food Service Program, or Summer Feeding Program, at four San Antonio Public Library SAPL branches. For the 2018-2019 funding period, the Libraries seek funding for The UT Healthier Youth Recipe and Resource Booklet for a continued partnership with the NEISD Summer Feeding Program at SAPL branches and new partnerships with the UT Teen Health Clinic and the UT Teen Health Youth Leadership Council. The UT Healthier Youth Recipe and Resource Booklet will encourage youth in grades 3-12 to seek health information in a fun and engaging way and bring awareness to NLM and other resources that may influence the practice of healthy behaviors. With input from 87 at both SAPL and the UT Teen Health Youth Leadership Council, the booklet will include recipes, games, and information about NLM resources for youth. This project supports one of the UT Health San Antonios strategies for achieving its mission, which is to engage the community to improve health.