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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Laura Michelle Gottlieb, MD¹, Kathryn McCormick, MA, LMFT², Jason Mendoza, MD³, Barry Saver, MD, MPH², and Mark Doescher, MD, MSPH². (1) Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, 4245 Roosevelt Way NE, 4th Floor, Box 354770, Seattle, WA 98105, 206-645-4940, lauragot@u.washington.edu, (2) Department of Family Medicine Research Section, University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 308, Box 354696, Seattle, WA 98105, (3) Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Progarm, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Health Sciences, Room H220, Box 357183, Seattle, WA 98195-7183

Obesity disproportionately affects Latinos in the United States. Community-based prevention efforts must recognize both cultural assets and barriers. In an effort to integrate and expand existing interventions, this project aimed to characterize physical activity and eating patterns in the Latino population of King County, Washington, while exploring underlying associations with food insecurity, acculturation and income. Methods: The study utilized: a) 14 key informant interviews with local experts who work with the Latino community or in obesity prevention; b) focus groups in four sites serving Latino populations of King County with a total of 44 participants; and c) quantitative, written surveys (including demographics, weight/height, and validated measures of acculturation, food insecurity and food intake) of focus group participants. All study activities were available in Spanish and English. Findings: Our preliminary qualitative analyses identified both cultural barriers and assets to obesity prevention in the Latino community. Barriers include socio-economic disadvantage (perception of neighborhood safety, education, time availability), immigration status, and machismo. Assets include family-orientation, community trust and engagement, the healthy immigrant effect, and interest in promoting health. Demand exists for bilingual, low-cost, family-oriented local programs involving hands-on nutrition education or group-based physical activity. Observations from the survey will also be presented. Conclusions: Our research has identified several culturally-specific facilitators of and barriers to obesity prevention in the Seattle-area Latino community, thus indicating the need for culturally-informed and responsive interventions. These findings are likely applicable to similar urban Latino communities in the United States.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Articulate beliefs, practices and interventions around physical activity and eating in the Latino population represented by King County, Washington.
• Evaluate the role of focus groups and key informant interviews in eliciting cultural biases, barriers and assets surrounding obesity.
• Apply a focus group model to future exploratory work on obesity in the Latino community.

Keywords: Obesity, Latino Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered