SaludABLEOmaha, a program emphasizing youth activism and public/private collaboration, has made the Latino community of South Omaha, Nebraska, ready to accept an initiative to reduce childhood obesity, University of Nebraska researchers suggest.
The program employed three interconnected strategies: use of social marketing and social media, school curricula integrating hands-on community service with instruction, and community and business engagement. Ater 2.5 years, interviews with community members showed that the program had moved the community had moved from stage 3 of the nine-stage Community Readiness model - "vague awareness" - to stage 5, "preparation."
"Our findings indicate an increase in the South Omaha Latino community's readiness to address obesity-related health issues," the researchers conclude.
Research: SaludABLEOmaha: Improving Readiness to Address Obesity Through Healthy Lifestyle in a Midwestern Latino Community, 2011-2013, Terry T-K Huang, PhD, MPH,