Material Detail

This 2011 article from Obesity: A Research Journal describes the cultural factors affecting weight-loss in the Hispanic population. Food is what defines individuals and groups from one another and is an essential component in cultural identity. Most of the research that focuses on interventions of weight-loss fails to identify key variables in the Hispanic culture that affects diet, such as level of education, countries of origin, and acculturation. Additionally, interventions are geared more towards the white and non-Hispanic groups, such as portion control and recognizing eating as a major effect of stress, two ideas that are not commonly experienced in Hispanics. To develop interventions, researchers must look at culturally relevant factors that affect these interventions. Rather than simply addressing the food Hispanics eat, cultural, linguistic, acculturative, economic, and education diversity needs to be acknowledged in order for the interventions to be effective. The Hispanic population’s ethnic ancestry can also assist researchers in finding differences in outcomes from the various health services provided. This article provides proposed preliminary guidelines to develop weight-management interventions in the Hispanic population. The guideline explains ways to create a tool for gathering data on diet, avoid assumptions of the Hispanic culture, and understanding other variables that are related to health outcomes. 

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