Overview

 

Abriendo Caminos: Clearing the Path to Hispanic Health project

Abriendo Caminos established and contributed to obesity prevention interventions for Hispanic-heritage families, specifically focusing on those considered low-income and low-literacy. Based on the Abriendo Caminos pilot study that demonstrated an increase in healthy eating behaviors by building on elements of a traditional diet, improving family-meal quality, and increasing physical activity, the goal of this multifunction, integrated project was to implement, adapt, and evaluate the effectiveness of a community workshop-based curriculum to prevent childhood obesity and promote healthy nutrition and lifestyle behaviors among low-income, low-literacy Hispanic-heritage families in five different locations: California, Illinois, Iowa, Puerto Rico, and Texas. This project led to an effective, low-cost obesity prevention intervention (available in both Spanish and English) that was disseminated nationwide by educators and community agency staff.

Abriendo Caminos: Clearing the Path to Hispanic Health

The obesity burden is particularly elevated in Hispanic and other minority communities. Several factors contribute to this burden, including low literacy rates, low household income, and a high prevalence of diseases like diabetes, dyslipidemia, or hypertension. A need exists to implement culturally sensitive lifestyle interventions and educational programs to decrease obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases in Hispanic populations. A promising approach to reducing obesity risk in Hispanic families is a community-based program targeted at whole families to encourage healthy eating by incorporating elements of traditional Hispanic dietary patterns, collective family mealtimes, and culturally tailored physical activity. A culturally sensitive, workshop-based curriculum that has been adapted and tested in different regions of the country will provide specialists and community professionals with tools to effectively meet the needs of Hispanic families.

Key Points

  • People of Hispanic heritage living in the U.S. are at heightened risk of obesity and obesity-related health threats.
  • Past interventions that have been aimed at Hispanics, mostly school-based, have had limited efficacy.
  • There is an urgent need for affordable, effective, and easy-to-implement community-based interventions.
  • Participation in Abriendo Caminos, the six-week community-based program, will significantly increase basic knowledge of nutrition and dietary health.
  • The immediate beneficiaries of this obesity-prevention project will be in children and young adults, ages 5 to 18 years of age, from Hispanic-heritage families.

Research Team

  • Margarita Teran-Garcia, MD, Ph.D., FTOS, Program Director, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
  • Norma E. Gonzalez, M.F.A., D.Sc., Visiting Project Coordinator, Illinois Extension
  • Barbara Fiese, Ph.D., Family Resiliency Center Director, Human Development and Family Studies
  • Norma Olvera, Ph.D., Professor, University of Houston
  • Amber Hammons, Ph.D., Project Co-Director, Professor; Child, Family and Consumer Sciences; California State University, Fresno
  • Maria Plaza-Delestre, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Food Science and Technology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
  • Nancy Correa-Matos, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Puerto Rico
  • Kimberly Greder, Associate Professor, Human Development & Family Studies, Iowa State University
  • Bridget Hannon, MS, Senior Scientist, The Kraft Heinz Company
  • Elizabeth Villegas, MS, Research Scientist, Child Trends
  • Viridiana Luna, Senior Research Associate
  • Anna S. Keck, Ph.D., Program Coordinator, Personalized Nutrition Initiative

Educadores de Salud Research Team

  • Margarita Teran-Garcia, Ph.D., MD, Assistant Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition (P.I. for Promatora Project, Abriendo Caminos Project)
  • Andiara Schwingel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health (P.I. for Promatoras Project)
  • Jennifer McCaffrey, Ph.D., RD, Assistant Dean, Family and Consumer Sciences
  • Elizabeth Villegas, Human Development and Family Studies Development Student (Graduate Associate for Promatora Project, Abriendo Caminos Project) 

Findings

Contact:
Dr. Margarita Teran-Garcia: 217-244-2025; teranmd@illinois.edu
Dr. Norma E. Gonzalez: 217-300-4924 or 217-300-0755; abriendo.caminos.uiuc@gmail.com
Dr. Anna S. Keck: 217-333-5005; akeck@illinois.edu
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Funding

This research was supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture as part of the AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge (2015-68001-23248) to the University of Illinois.