Cultural Variables Underlying Obesity in Latino Men: Design, Rationale and Participant Characteristics from the Latino Men's Health Initiative.
Overweight and obesity are associated with significant health problems and rates of obesity are high among Latino men. This paper describes the design, rationale and participant characteristics of the key demographic variables assessed in an NIH-funded study (R21-CA143636) addressing culture and several obesity-related variables (diet, physical activity, and body image) among Mexican and Puerto Rican men using a community-based participatory research framework. Participants completed objective measures (height, weight, body fat, hip, waist), a health and culture interview, a diet questionnaire, and used an accelerometer to measure their level of physical activity. A total of 203 participants completed the measures and the health and culture interview and 193 completed all study components. Puerto Ricans were older than Mexicans (p < .0001) and there were significant differences in marital status (p < .05), country of birth (p < .05), smoking (p < .05) and work status (p < .001). There were no significant differences in religion, education, health insurance, Body Mass Index, body fat, hip and waist measurements, and the language preference of the interview. Results have implications for the development of a future intervention that incorporates the role of cultural factors into a community participatory obesity intervention for Latino men.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. lsanchez@psych.uic.edu.|Department of Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. lsanchez@psych.uic.edu.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 West Roosevelt Road, MC 747, Room #147, Chicago, IL, 60608, USA. lsanchez@psych.uic.edu.
Lisa
L
Sanchez-Johnsen
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Meredith
M
Craven
Diabetes Empowerment Center, Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Magdalena
M
Nava
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.|College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.|School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Angelica
A
Alonso
Department of Psychology, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Amanda
A
Dykema-Engblade
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Alfred
A
Rademaker
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Hui
H
Xie
D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000208:ethnology; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012107:Research Design; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
Community based participatory research; Culture; Latinos; Obesity