142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Development of a mobile healthy food purchasing intervention for Latinos

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Dharma E. Cortés, PhD , Environment & Health Group, Cambridge, MA
Marta Pagan-Ortiz, MS , Environment & Health Group, Cambridge, MA
Xin Lu, MS , Environment & Health Group, Cambridge, MA
Hongtu Chen, PhD , Environment & Health Group, Cambridge, MA
Odilia Bermudez, PhD, MPH , Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
Andreina Millan-Ferro , Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA
Introduction: Almost 76% of Latinas are overweight or obese, (Flegal, Carroll, Kit, & Ogden, 2012); and Latino children have one of the highest obesity rates in the U.S. (Ogden, Carroll, & Flegal, 2008). Food-purchasing decisions often determine the quality of the food eaten at home, and regular decisions to purchase nutrient-poor food may result in obesity (Drenowski & Darmon, 2005). Wide adoption of mobile phones and applications by Latinos means that the latter are promising tools to combat obesity. The goal of this project is to develop a prototype mobile health intervention informed by the USDA’s MyPlate to promote healthy eating and help Latino families make healthier and affordable choices while grocery shopping. 

Methods: The mobile application integrates educational videos and text messages; and its content was informed and guided by a number of health behavior theories and models: health belief model, social cognitive theory, theory of planned behavior, and the transtheoretical model.

Results: The presentation describes the software development and formative evaluation to test the feasibility, acceptability and short-term effectiveness of the mobile application in improving knowledge, purchasing behavior, and healthy eating behavior among the target population: low-income, low-literacy Spanish-speaking families.

Discussion: Preliminary findings from the formative evaluation suggest that participants in the study will increase their perceptions of the threat of obesity and related health risks, and the benefits of healthy shopping. The development of a partnership with a local grocery store plays a key role in maximizing the commercial use of the mobile application.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Communication and informatics
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Explain the developed health mobile application prototype and describe its development. Evaluate the effectiveness of the mobile health application among its target application. Discuss the application's potential and future implications and recommendations for the next version of the mobile health intervention.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Principal Investigator for the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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