Healthy eating behaviors following a culturally sensitive nutrition education intervention for Hispanic families
type: CreativeWork
description: Across the lifespan, Hispanics in the United States (US) suffer from higher prevalence of obesity than the general population. Efforts to prevent the development of obesity among children in this at-risk group have had mixed success. Cultural tailoring, such as inclusion of Hispanic cultural values and traditional foods, has proved to be successful in the modification of obesogenic behaviors among Hispanic youth. Though overall diet quality in Hispanic adults and children, assessed through tools such as the Healthy Eating Index, is high, this group consumes the highest reported intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and saturated fats. Nutrition education interventions are needed to address these two problem areas, which can contribute to weight gain in Hispanic children. In addition to increased obesity burden, Hispanics are at additional risk for related comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The proportion of individuals without health insurance is also highest in Hispanics compared to any other ethnic group in the US, indicating that rates of these diseases could be much higher. Health screenings and educational tools are needed to allow these individuals to understand and be aware of their risk for disease, so they can seek medical attention or adopt lifestyle change. The objective of this thesis is to adapt, deliver, and evaluate a family-focused, culturally-sensitive nutrition education program for the prevention of childhood obesity in Hispanic families, and to conduct a minimally-invasive cardiovascular and metabolic health screen in this population. The Abriendo Caminos (AC2) nutrition education curriculum was adapted to reflect applied behavior theory, community feedback, and advances in evidence-based nutritional guidance. This was done through literature search and review of theory-based educational interventions, structured focus groups and communication with community leaders, and review of posit…
abstract: Across the lifespan, Hispanics in the United States (US) suffer from higher prevalence of obesity than the general population. Efforts to prevent the development of obesity among children in this at-risk group have had mixed success. Cultural tailoring, such as inclusion of Hispanic cultural values and traditional foods, has proved to be successful in the modification of obesogenic behaviors among Hispanic youth. Though overall diet quality in Hispanic adults and children, assessed through tools such as the Healthy Eating Index, is high, this group consumes the highest reported intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and saturated fats. Nutrition education interventions are needed to address these two problem areas, which can contribute to weight gain in Hispanic children. In addition to increased obesity burden, Hispanics are at additional risk for related comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The proportion of individuals without health insurance is also highest in Hispanics compared to any other ethnic group in the US, indicating that rates of these diseases could be much higher. Health screenings and educational tools are needed to allow these individuals to understand and be aware of their risk for disease, so they can seek medical attention or adopt lifestyle change. The objective of this thesis is to adapt, deliver, and evaluate a family-focused, culturally-sensitive nutrition education program for the prevention of childhood obesity in Hispanic families, and to conduct a minimally-invasive cardiovascular and metabolic health screen in this population. The Abriendo Caminos (AC2) nutrition education curriculum was adapted to reflect applied behavior theory, community feedback, and advances in evidence-based nutritional guidance. This was done through literature search and review of theory-based educational interventions, structured focus groups and communication with community leaders, and review of posit…
author: Hannon, Bridget Ann
language: en
keywords: Obesity, Nutrition, Children
date published: 2017-08-10T20:33:20Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:34Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/97767