FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2010
Contact:
Sherria Cotton
(202) 785-1670
Washington, DC—NCLR (National Council of La Raza) today announced that the NCLR Institute for Hispanic Health received an award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for an obesity prevention program geared toward the Latino community. The program, Cuidemos Nuestra Salud: Con Una Vida Balanceada (Let’s Take Care of Our Health: With a Balanced Lifestyle ), provides promotores de salud (lay health educators) with training and a bilingual tool kit for education sessions within Hispanic neighborhoods to encourage healthy eating and increased physical activity.
“There is an urgent need for culturally competent and linguistically appropriate health educational materials that address the obesity epidemic among Latinos in an innovative and creative way. At NCLR, we are doing all that we can to ensure that health materials are providing messages that resonate with the Latino community to make a long-term impact,” said Dr. Maria Rosa, Vice President, NCLR Institute for Hispanic Health.
The award-winning program was selected from a competitive pool for demonstrating innovation in materials targeting a specific population. It began in January 2010 and is being used in Boston, Houston, Milwaukee, Tucson, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Focus groups helped determine the best approach and terminology for increasing knowledge and changing behavior related to nutrition and physical activity in a way that would resonate with Latinos. The bilingual tool kit—which includes a flip chart, handouts on body mass index (BMI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid, a refrigerator magnet about healthy portions, food models, and a healthy living pledge—is designed for promotores to use during one-hour charlas (health education sessions) in their communities.
“NCLR is thrilled to have received this award from APHA. Given that the obesity rate among Hispanics is nearly 29%, this award highlights how important it is for public health programs to take cultural issues into consideration, work with community leaders, and use bilingual materials,” said Dr. Rosa.
Manuela McDonough, MPH, CPH, accepted the award today on behalf of NCLR, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, at the APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Denver, Colorado. The conference is the largest gathering of public health professionals in the world and is focused on current and emerging health science, policy, and practice issues in an effort to prevent disease and promote health.
Information on the NCLR Institute for Hispanic Health’s programs, as well as in-depth analysis of Latino child nutrition in the series 2010 Profiles of Latino Health, can be found on NCLR’s website.
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