Abriendo Caminos 2: Clearing the Path to Hispanic Health

Obesity is significantly higher in specific ethnic groups and, in particular, Hispanics. There is an urgent need to implement culturally-sensitive lifestyle interventions and educational programs to decrease the burden of obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases in Hispanic populations. Accordingly, our overreaching goal is to tailor an existing and successful community-based program, Abriendo Caminos, to leverage effectiveness in promoting healthy nutrition and life-style behaviors among low income, low literacy Hispanic-heritage families. Our multi-function integrated project proposes to (a) adapt Abriendo Caminos for 6-18 year-old children from Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage in five different locations (California, Illinois, Iowa, Puerto Rico, and Texas) and (b) Train existing professionals (in Extension and community agencies) and future professionals (Hispanic university students) to meet the specific needs of this population. Our central hypothesis is that participation in a 6-week community-based program will prevent childhood obesity/maintain healthy weight by significantly increasing: (a) healthy dietary behavior patterns and basic knowledge of nutrition; (b) physical activity levels; and (c) the organization of collective/shared family mealtimes. The implementation of this culturally sensitive, workshop-based curriculum in different regions across the country will help to train the next generation of professionals in Extension and communities to deliver programs that meet the needs of Hispanic families. The integration of Hispanic college students in program implementation via an experiential learning course will further strengthen the program, as well as increase recruitment and retention of Hispanic students, increasing the capacity of Hispanic communities to meet their own needs in the future.