Building Healthy Communities: Curbing the Obesity Epidemic In the Latino Community

Description

Obesity is a major contributor to serious health conditions in children and adults,
especially in the Latino community. Obesity is more prevalent in Latino adults at 47% than any other ethnic or racial minority group and Hispanic Americans are 1.2 times more likely to have obesity than non-Hispanic whites.

Obesity is a chronic disease impacting dozens of comorbidities and it’s time to confront its broad impacts. As one of the fastest-growing segments of the population, there are several factors that contribute to obesity rates being higher in the Latino community such as metabolic, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors. Hispanic communities often lack access to sources of healthy food – nearly 1/3 of Latinos eat two or fewer servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Latino families may also have different standards and ideals for what constitutes a healthy child, and low-income Latinos are more likely to view physical activity and good appetite as markers of health status than growth charts in being able to define a child’s weight.

Join us for a conversation with health experts on prioritizing your health, developing weight management habits, battling stigma, and accessing comprehensive treatment options for obesity. You will learn how to best support yourself or someone you know that suffers from obesity. Join LULAC and our health partner Novo Nordisk to celebrate Minority Health Month and bring awareness to the disproportionate health factors affecting minority communities across the country.