Results of a multi-level intervention to prevent and control childhood obesity among Latino children: the Aventuras Para Niños Study.

Background: Community-based interventions are needed to reduce the burden of childhood obesity.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of a multi-level promotora-based (Community Health Advisor) intervention to promote healthy eating and physical activity and prevent excess weight gain among Latino children.

Methods: Thirteen elementary schools were randomized to one of four intervention conditions: individual/family level (Family-only), school/community level (Community-only), combined (Family + Community), or a measurement-only condition.

Longitudinal intervention effects on parenting of the Aventuras para Niños study.

Background: Parenting interventions have achieved changes in factors associated with childhood obesity but few have tested the effects on multiple parental influences.

Purpose: This study examined the efficacy of an intervention aimed at improving several dimensions of parenting related to childhood obesity.

Design: The study used a 2 x 2 factorial design.

Secretos de la Buena Vida: processes of dietary change via a tailored nutrition communication intervention for Latinas.

Secretos de la Buena Vida was a successful tailored nutrition communication intervention delivered to Latinas living along the US-Mexico border in California. The intervention was delivered over a 14-week period and consisted of three intervention conditions: weekly home visits with promotoras + weekly tailored mailed newsletters in the first condition, weekly tailored mailed newsletters in the second condition and targeted materials in the attention control condition. The current study examined what elements of the promotora + tailored newsletter and tailored newsletter-only conditions were most effective for behavioral adoption and maintenance in a sample of 238 Latina women.

Environmental correlates of physical activity in Mexican American children at home.

Background: Understanding home environments might shed light on factors contributing to reduced physical activity (PA) in children, particularly minorities. Few studies have used microlevel observations to simultaneously assess children's PA and associated conditions in homes.

Methods: Trained observers assessed PA and associated physical and social environmental variables in the homes of 139 Mexican American children (69 boys, 70 girls; mean age = 6 years) after school.

Away-from-home food intake and risk for obesity: examining the influence of context.

Objective: This study examined sociodemographic and cultural determinants of away-from-home food consumption in two contexts and the influence of frequency of away-from-home food consumption on children's dietary intake and parent and child weight status.

Methods And Procedures: Parents of children (N=708) in grades K-2 were recruited from 13 elementary schools in Southern California. Parents were asked through a questionnaire the frequency with which they eat meals away from home and the restaurant they frequented most often.

Evaluating psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms of change in a tailored communication intervention.

This study examined the impact of a tailored nutrition intervention at 3 and 6 months postintervention. In all, 357 Latinas were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) a control condition comprised of previously developed Spanish language targeted materials, (2) tailored print materials, or (3) tailored print materials accompanied by personalized dietary counseling via lay heath advisors (promotoras). At 6 months postintervention, significant group by time interactions were observed on the dietary behavioral strategies scales.

Family restaurant choices are associated with child and adult overweight status in Mexican-American families.

Increasing evidence links restaurant food with overweight, but little is known about the relative roles of different types of restaurants, or the effects among Latinos. Using baseline data from an intervention trial, this study tested whether the type of restaurant a family reports visiting most often is associated with the body mass index (BMI; calculated as kg/m(2)) of children and adults. Children, ages 4 to 7, and one primary caregiver for each child (94% mothers), were recruited through public elementary schools in southern San Diego County, CA, with at least 70% Latino enrollment.

Long-term effects of a communication intervention for Spanish-dominant Latinas.

Background: Few studies compare the influence of different types of dietary interventions on the dietary practices of Latinas in the short and long term. The present study examined the 1-year impact of two innovative behavior-change approaches to reduce dietary fat and increase fiber.

Design: Three-group randomized controlled trial: (1) personalized dietary counseling via lay heath advisors (promotoras) plus tailored print materials delivered via the mail, (2) tailored mailed print materials only, and (3) targeted mailed "off-the-shelf" materials.

Association of a traditional vs shared meal decision-making and preparation style with eating behavior of Hispanic women in San Diego County.

Objective: To examine the influence of meal decision-making and preparation on Hispanic women's dietary practices.

Design: One-on-one structured interviews were conducted, assessing meal decision-making and preparation practices, barriers, and behavioral strategies to eating low-fat and high-fiber diets, fat and fiber intake, demographic, and other psychosocial factors.

Subjects/setting: The study population included 357 Hispanic women living in the southern or central regions of San Diego County.

Is church attendance associated with Latinas' health practices and self-reported health?

Objectives: To evaluate (a) the relation between frequency of church attendance, self-rated health, and health behaviors controlling for potential confounders and (b) the influence of acculturation on church attendance and health behaviors.

Methods: Physical activity and dietary patterns, demographics, and acculturation levels were compared among Latinas who attended church frequently, infrequently, and not at all.

Results: Church attendance was independently and positively associated with healthier dietary and physical activity behaviors, but not with self-rated health.

Restaurant and food shopping selections among Latino women in Southern California.

Objective: This study describes and examines determinants of restaurant and food store selections in a sample of Latino women.

Design: Data were collected at the baseline home-based interview from women involved in a randomized community trial to improve dietary behaviors. The interview consisted of both a structured interview and the measurements of height, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio.

Interpersonal and print nutrition communication for a Spanish-dominant Latino population: Secretos de la Buena Vida.

Participants (N=357) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: lay health advisor (promotora) plus tailored print materials, tailored print materials only (tailored), or off-the-shelf print materials (control). The primary outcomes were calories from fat and daily grams of fiber. Secondary outcomes included total energy intake, total and saturated fat intake, and total carbohydrates.

Correlates of body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio among Mexican women in the United States: implications for intervention development.

Introduction: This study contributes to our understanding of acculturation and obesity by examining the association between several measures of acculturation, including a bidimensional scale of acculturation, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).

Methods: Exploratory analyses were performed using baseline data from 357 Mexican women recruited into a Spanish-language randomized community trial. The women were randomly sampled by telephone and interviewed in their homes.

Some methodologic issues in analyzing data from a randomized adolescent tobacco and alcohol use prevention trial.

Three issues concerning the design and analysis of randomized behavioral intervention studies are illustrated and discussed within the framework of a tobacco and alcohol prevention trial among migrant Latino adolescents. The first issue arises when subjects are randomized in clusters rather than individually. Because subject observations cannot be assumed to be independent, information pertaining to the degree of clustering must be reported, and analyses must take the clustering into account.

Tobacco and alcohol use-prevention program for Hispanic migrant adolescents.

Objective: Evaluate a community-based tobacco/alcohol use-prevention program group compared with an attention-control condition (first aid/home safety) group.

Methods: A total of 660 adolescents and 1 adult caregiver for each were recruited through the Migrant Education Program to participate in an 8-week intervention. Random assignment to the two groups occurred in 22 schools.