Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Latinas via Interactive Web-Based Technology

Project Summary/Abstract
Physical inactivity and poor diet quality, including low fruit and vegetable consumption and high sugar-
sweetened beverages, have been linked with diabetes, overweight/obesity and numerous chronic health
conditions. For Latina women in the U.S., the disproportionately low physical activity (PA) levels and unhealthy
dietary habits contribute to the high and rising prevalence of diabetes and overweight/obesity, as well as heart
disease, hypertension, and stroke. Reducing these disparities requires culturally appropriate interventions that
promote multiple health behaviors of PA and healthy eating. The majority of lifestyle interventions that target
these behaviors in Latinos have been implemented using face-to-face approaches, which may not be
accessible to Latinas due to common barriers (e.g., lack of time, fear of immigration enforcement, and lack of
transportation) and can require costly resources to implement. Internet-based interventions can overcome
barriers of face-to-face approaches and have potential for wide reach. Latinos now report higher Internet usage
than White and Black adults (95% Latinos use Internet) and are more likely than non-Latinos to use their
mobile devices to access health information. While most Latinas report more than one modifiable risk factor
contributing to cardiometabolic disease (physical inactivity, poor diet quality) no Internet-based interventions
have yet been developed that are culturally tailored to address both diet and PA needs of Latinas. Our
research team has already developed and tested a culturally and linguistically adapted, theory-driven, Internet-
based intervention promoting PA in Latina women, Pasos Hacia la Salud, that has shown success by
increasing and maintaining PA gains in this population over 12 months. Latina participants in our team’s PA
studies have also expressed interest in learning more about dietary quality. Thus, we will expand our Internet-
based PA intervention to include promotion of healthy eating in Latinas as a more comprehensive approach to
reducing cardiometabolic disease in Latinas. We will then test the preliminary efficacy of the adapted web-
based multiple behavior change intervention for Latinas in a 12-week pilot RCT. Participants (N=70) will be
randomized to: 1) PA and dietary intervention arm, or 2) wait-list control arm. The goal of the proposed study is
to help Latinas meet national PA and dietary guidelines for F&V and SSB consumption. This work leverages
our existing infrastructure (web-based platform), didactic training, and the unique and complementary expertise
of the mentorship team and collaborators in developing innovative technology-based and individually tailored
PA and diet interventions in at-risk populations. The proposed project will provide the PI (Dr. Benitez) training
on nutrition research and new methodologies in this area (Intervention Mapping process, evaluation of nutrition
interventions, and multiple behavior clinical trials). This study proposes a novel, low-cost and high reach
approach to reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease in Latinas and will provide the PI with skills for
developing and conducting culturally tailored multiple behavior (nutrition and physical activity) clinical trials.

Grant Number: 5K01HL159044-04
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Tanya Benitez