TITLE:
Outcome Measures of a Family-Based Education Approach with Mexican Immigrants in the Yakima Valley
AUTHORS:
Virginia A. Bennett, Carissa Sundsmo-Switzer
KEYWORDS:
Cultural Sensitivity, Mexican Immigrants, Salsa Sabor y Salud
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.2 No.4,
October
18,
2011
ABSTRACT: With the continued incidence of obesity and health related issues in the United States and especially in the Hispanic population, it is important to provide useful healthy lifestyle education to this population. One of the barriers to providing this information is the lack of culture sensitivity in the content and presentation of current programs. In this pilot study, pre and post tests were used to measure the effectiveness of Salsa, Sabor, y Salud, a culturally sensitive program designed for Latinos. Outcome measures included dietary changes, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, reported physical activity, and healthy lifestyle score. Diet was evaluated by 24-hour diet recall for both adults and children. Difference in outcome measures was assessed using a dependent t test. Significant decreases in weight, waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure, kilocalories, and grams of carbohydrates were observed. Adults reported an increase in total minutes of physical activity and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. This culturally sensitive education program, Salsa, Sabor, y Salud, has a positive effect on health related outcome measures.