Evaluation results of a promotores de salud approach to prevent obesity among Latinos

To address the high rates of obesity among Latinos, a community-based participatory approach was used to develop, implement, and evaluate Cuidemos Nuestra Salud (Taking Care of Our Health), a promotores de salud-driven (lay health educator) obesity-prevention curriculum for Hispanic families. Community feedback informed the content of a culturally and linguistically appropriate toolkit, which includes a bilingual flipchart, workshop guide, and educational resources. Using the toolkit, promotores conducted 90-minute community educational outreach sessions to six Latino communities. Over 6,500 participants completed pre- and post-tests and a sub-sample received a three-month follow-up to determine changes in knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior. The data was reviewed, coded and entered into a database for analysis. Frequencies and means were conducted on all the variables included in the database to evaluate the distribution of responses. Results of paired-samples t-tests demonstrated program effectiveness. For example, findings indicate a statistically significant increase in health-related knowledge, such as proper identification of health risk factors, serving sizes, and physical activity recommendations (p<.001). There was a statistically significant increase perceived ability to engage in healthy behaviors (p<.001). 70.4% reported this was the first session about nutrition that they had attended, and that prior to this session, 22.7% had not heard about nutrition. The promotores project succeeded in increasing Latinos' awareness, knowledge, perceived ability, and positive health behaviors regarding dietary and physical activity behaviors. Results from the project will be used to create other programs, inform policy development, and increase our understanding of preventing obesity in the Hispanic population.