Within Latin America, Chile has one of the highest prevalence of obesity. Public health efforts are centered on preventing obesity early in life. Preschool-aged children are developing eating habits that can last up to several years and they are becoming more receptive to their immediate social environment (particularly parents). Parents and children feeding interactions —either […]

Health knowledge, and habits are known to begin during early childhood by vicarious learning from parents, siblings, caregivers, and peers. Thus, approaches that aim to modify behaviors of young Mexican children, need to understand children and caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions, as well as the factors that influence them. Considering this, the goal of the […]

In the United States, the known associations between social disadvantage, stress, and impaired health have been called into question by the Hispanic-Health-Paradox. The Hispanic-Health-Paradox posits that immigrants and their children have better health, exhibit higher resilience, and have longer life-expectancy than their native-born counterparts, despite greater exposure to environmental stressors including high levels of poverty, […]

Gardening is one of the most popular home-based leisure activities among American adults. However, the relationship between gardening and specific health behaviors (i.e., diet, physical activity, and sleep) remains unclear. Further, there is a paucity of data examining the familial factors (e.g., gardening with grand children or children) that increase the likelihood of gardening among […]

“Illinois Pathways to Health” is a two year project aimed to ensure statewide access to and sustainability of chronic disease self-management education for older adults and adults with disabilities, with a focus on underserved populations. This project will build upon the existing infrastructure to create a sustainable, integrated statewide evidence based health promotion network.

The Abriendo Caminos-Promotora project aims to recruit, train, and support community volunteers to educate Latino families about health lifestyles, with the long-term objective of decreasing obesity and related health problems. Abriendo Caminos-Promotora places a strong emphasis on program sustainability and cultural relevance – which are the strengths of the promotora-model. This project builds on Abriendo Caminos (or “Clearing the Path for […]

Andiara Schwingel The “Abuelas en Accion/ Grandmothers in Action” (AEA) program explored the feasibility of implementing a behavioral change program addressing physical activity, nutrition and stress management for Latina grandmothers aged 50 and older. The intervention was designed to be culturally sensitive to the targeted population through a partnership with faith-based organizations in developing and […]

Julie Bobitt Because our older adult population is growing at such a rapid pace it is important to focus on initiatives and policies that will promote successful aging and prevent premature chronic disease and disability. Increasingly, there has been a focus on the utilization of evidence-based wellness programs to address the need for preventive efforts […]

Emerson Sebastiao The health disparity among minority groups is well documented in the United States. Despite improvements on health care and preventive services, African Americans still face the burden of higher rates of chronic diseases, disabilities and mortalities. Physical activity is an important health component and despite its increased awareness, rates of participation are low. […]

Deborah Linares UIUC Latina Breast Cancer Screening Article Database This project is a collaborative effort with Dr. Lydia Buki (University of Miami) which reviews the US Latina breast cancer screening literature from 1980-2010 to examine trends and patterns in order to gain new insight and future directions for the screening literature. UIUC Cancer Health Literacy […]