Comprando Rico y Sano: Increasing Latino Nutrition Knowledge, Healthful Diets, and Food Access Through a National Community-Based Intervention

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluation findings from “X” a culturally relevant, community-based intervention addressing nutrition knowledge and food access are presented.
Design: No-control quasi-experimental intervention with pre, post, and follow-up assessments.
Setting: “X” was promotores-led through “X” community-based partners.
Sample: Low-income Latino adults (N=966) receiving services at 25 partner sites.
Intervention: “X” was a six-hour intervention focused on nutrition knowledge and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and home-prepared meals. It also provided guidance for health-conscious grocery shopping, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) information, and enrollment assistance.
Measures: Self-report surveys assessed nutrition knowledge; intention to change; and frequency of fruit, vegetable, and home-prepared meal consumption. Sites reported monthly SNAP enrollment data.
Analysis: Paired-samples t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVAs assessed changes in knowledge, intentions, and behavior from pre-to-post (n=960) and pre-to-follow-up (n=115).
Results: Pre-to-follow-up increases in nutrition knowledge (p<.001) were observed. Intention to consume more vegetables (p=.027) and home-prepared meals (p<.001) also improved between pre and follow-up. Increases from pre-to-follow-up were observed for frequency of consuming fruits (p=.007), vegetables (p=.001), and home-prepared meals (p<.001). Across 16 months, 24,359 Latinos enrolled for SNAP.
Conclusion: Large-scale community collaborations to deliver culturally relevant nutrition education and SNAP enrollment assistance can increase food access, health literacy, and promote healthful diets for Latinos.

A systematic review and narrative synthesis of health literacy interventions among Spanish speaking populations in the United States

“…However, when contrasting interventions groups together to control, there was a significant improvement at follow-up ( p = .0036) but not at posttest ( p = .1813) in behaviors to decrease fat consumption Community clinic. Los Angeles, CA Peña-Purcell 2014 [ 44 ] In Person Education Culturally sensitive, empowerment-based, diabetes self-management education program Social cognitive and Self-regulation theories Prospective, quasiexperimental, repeated-measure design Hispanic adults ≥ 40 years old, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes Spoken Knowledge in Low Literacy in Diabetes (SKILLD) Health outcomes Significant increase in diabetes knowledge (median baseline score was 6/10 for both groups, changed to 7 in intervention and 5 in control group, p < .01) No significant relationship was found for any item in the scale other than Item 7 (normal fasting blood glucose), from those in the intervention group members who improved in this aspect, 65% had a reduction in their A1C at follow-up; only 50–50 improvement in A1C for those whose knowledge did not improve Community facilities in Hidalgo and Starr counties, Texas Rascón 2022 [ 45 ] In-person Education Culturally relevant, community-based, promotores -led, 6-h intervention to provide guidance on food access, nutrition knowledge, and SNAP None Pretest–Posttest Design Low-income Latino adults Questionnaire developed by researchers Preto-follow-up increases in nutrition knowledge (5.05 [SD .14] vs 5.76 [SD.05], p < .001. No significant change post vs. follow up) and frequency of consuming fruits ( p = .007), vegetables (p = .001), and home-prepared meals ( p < .001) Health centers and community organizations servicing Latinos across U.S Risica 2021 [ 46 ] In Person Education Small group sessions delivered by navegantes including information about clinical indicators of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, and healthy lifestyles None Nonrandomized Pretest–Posttest Design Spanish-speaking, literacy-limited patients The measures include anthropometries, blood chemistries and an assessment of diet, health and wellness knowledge questionnaire developed by researchers …”

“…Linguistic and culturally concordant care, including cultural competency training for providers, has also repeatedly been identified as a successful strategy for increasing HL among immigrant populations generally [ 18 ]. Furthermore, successful interventions often consider the opinions of the target population when designing content to ensure that the experience is culturally relevant [ 16 , 28 , 29 , 34 , 35 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 55 , 62 , 65 , 73 , 76 ].…”