This article provides a review of health promotion research conducted among Latinos. The authors examined 31 intervention studies promoting physical activity and/or healthy diet in Latino samples. Overall, findings suggested that Latinos are responsive to interventions promoting physical activity and healthy diet, despite facing numerous barriers to health promotion. In fact, 12 of the 21 studies that measured physical activity and 19 of the 26 studies that measured dietary behavior reported that the intervention produced significant improvements in those health behaviors. Design strengths of these studies included the high rates of retention and large number of randomized controlled trials. However, there were concerns regarding the lack of diversity in the samples (mostly Mexican American women), limiting the generalizability of the findings and the underutilization of objective measures of physical activity and diet behavior in intervention studies.

No abstract

Tobacco smoking remains the most common preventable cause of death and disability in the United States. Although greatly decreased since the 1960s, the prevalence of smoking among women continues to be problematic because of the absolute prevalence and the continued increase in illnesses that take a long time to manifest (eg, lung cancer) in former smokers. Although no consensus exists, a number of research studies, meta-analyses, and reviews have concluded that quitting smoking appears to be more diffi cult for women than men. For example, in studies of medications to aid smoking cessation, women tend to have less success than men in maintaining longer-term cessation. Research has identifi ed barriers and facilitators of smoking cessation specifi c to women and special populations of women (eg, minorities, pregnant women). There is a continued need for additional attention to the process of quitting smoking for women.