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Coming from a Hispanic community, I understand how important family is to us. Many times, we look out for others before we look out for ourselves, however we don’t realize that if we take care of ourselves, we are also taking care of our families. I decided to write this blog to talk to you about obesity among Hispanics and to tell you the importance of changing our eating habits and how you can do that.

What is obesity?

Obesity is defined, as an “…abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health” (World Health Organization, 2020). Health professionals use a scale called body mass index (BMI) to define whether a person is at normal weight or not. There are different values for a BMI:

18.5- 24.9: normal or healthy weight

25-29.9: overweight

30 or more: obese

From 1975 to 2016 there was a 14% increase of obesity in children ages 5-18 years old (World Health Organization, 2020). An obese child has a greater risk of developing obesity as an adult, therefore it is very important to pay attention to their way of eating and their exercise habits. Parents and/or caregivers have a great influence on a child’s nutrition; if the adult makes changes in his/her habits, they are influencing the family as a whole because the adults are the ones that are making the decisions.

Obesity in Hispanic community

Hispanics are the second ethnic group that is most affected by obesity. This health problem affects mostly Hispanic adults ages 45-54 years old and is higher among women (78.8%) compared to non-Hispanic white women (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, 2020). People who are overweight or obese have a higher chance of developing other health problems like high blood pressure, high levels of fat in blood, diabetes and high LDL (bad) cholesterol which all can lead to heart disease and stroke (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, 2020).

Influence of your home environment

The type of environment at home has an influence on the type of foods children eat, especially those who are in the preschool ages (Kong et al., 2018). It has been seen in studies that the more fruits and vegetables that are available at home, the more the adult parents and the older children are likely to eat them (Kong et al., 2018). So, buy some fruits

and vegetables and have them out where you and your kids can see them! Also, the more greens (i.e. lettuce, kale, spinach) and beans you have at home, the more likely the adults in the home will eat them (Kong et al., 2018). 

Changing eating habits

You might be thinking, how can I make changes at home and get my family and I to eat more vegetables? I have put together a list to be able to help you be successful in making these changes at home. What you will need first is motivation. Like I mentioned at the beginning, obesity is an issue that not only affects adults, it is now affecting more and more kids. We, as parents (or caregivers), have a lot of control of what we have at home and therefore what we decide to offer our kids. Here are a few tips.

  1. Check what you have in your refrigerator and food pantry. It is important to go through the food you have at home and get rid of most if not all processed foods. These types of foods are high in sodium (salt), sugar, and/or fat. Check labels and pay special attention to the sodium, added sugar, total fat, and saturated fat. The lower the number for these, the better.
  2. Purchase low-fat or fat-free dairy products like yogurt (plain), milk and cheese.
  3. Choose whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, corn tortillas, whole wheat tortillas, and whole wheat bread.
  4. Choose whole vs processed foods. Whole foods are those that haven’t gone through a process to conserve them like fresh fruits and vegetables and dry beans and grains which you have to cook. Processed foods include frozen and canned meals, fast food, cookies, chips, among others. 
  5. Limit sugary foods and beverages. Once again, it’s important that you check food labels and choose foods that have low sugar levels, especially if they are added sugars. For drinks, choose water and to make it flavorful you can add your favorite fruits. It is also important that you don’t have any soda, juice, fruit punch, energy drinks or sports drinks stored at home because it is more likely that you or your kids will drink them if you see them. If you want a soda or any type of high sugary drink, it is okay to have it occasionally, but make sure to only buy one to satisfy your craving. If you or your kids want juice you can get the 100% fruit juice and not offer kids 1-3 years old more than 4 ounces, 4-6 years old no more than 6 ounces, and kids older than 6 years no more than 8 ounces of juice in a day (UC Davis Health, 2020). Remember that juice doesn’t replace fruit, so try to avoid offering it to your kids and give them whole fruit instead.
    Spa Water
    Spa Water (plain water with your favorite fruit)
  6. Choose lean protein options. Some of these options include fish, chicken, and legumes (beans, lentils, garbanzo beans).
  7. Avoid cooking with saturated fats like manteca which can only lead to weight gain and can increase your risk of heart problems among other health problems. Instead, choose canola or vegetable oil for cooking or olive oil to add to your salads. 
  8. Cook meals at home. I understand that many of us have jobs and don’t have the time to cook meals every day. However, you can choose one or two days a week to cook meals for the whole week. You can then just store it in the refrigerator and depending on what food it is, many times you can even freeze it to conserve it for several days. 

Tasty, healthy meals

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring, as some say; you can modify your favorite foods so that they are tasty but healthy at the same time. Many times, the original recipe already has healthy ingredients, we just need to change a few of them to make it even healthier. Here is a modified version of the traditional enchiladas but modified to be healthier.

Creating a better future for our families

When we start changing our habits like the types of foods we choose to put in our bodies, as well as deciding to incorporate physical activity in our lives, we are being role models for our children. These changes in our lives have a short- and a long-term effect for us and our children. If you or your child is already obese or overweight and make these changes, your chance of developing other types of health problems, like the ones we mentioned before, will be less. Even if you don’t have children at home, if you are taking care of your elderly parents, they will benefit from the changes you make. Eating healthy is possible, and it is important to do so to benefit not only ourselves, but those who we love the most. 

Here are some videos that you might enjoy watching:

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, June 29). Adult Obesity Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, September 21). Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html.

Kong, A., Schiffer, L., Antonic, M., Braunschweig, C., Odoms-Young, A., & Fitzgibbon, M. (2018). The relationship between home- and individual-level diet quality among African American and Hispanic/Latino households with young children. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-018-0645-9

UC Davis Health. (2020). Is fruit juice bad for you and your children? https://health.ucdavis.edu/good-food/blog/is-fruit-juice-bad-for-you.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. (2020, March 26). Office of Minority Health. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4.

World Health Organization. (2020). Obesity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity.