San Luis Valley Family Nutrition and Activity Intervention

Principal Investigator Julie Marshall julie.marshall@uchsc.edu Project Identifier San Luis Valley Family Nutrition and Activity Intervention—SIP 22–99 Status: Not Active

• University of Colorado: Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center

About 48 percent of San Luis Valley’s residents are Hispanic and have one of the lowest income levels of any region in Colorado. These residents are also medically underserved and at high risk for diabetes. To help reduce Hispanic residents’ health risks, researchers developed a program for second-grade students in area schools and their families. Family advisors (residents trained as lay health advisors) helped families of these students identify ways to increase their physical activity and improve their selection and preparation of food. Families that adopted healthier lifestyles were trained to mentor other families—a strategy that reinforces the mentors’ newly acquired health habits, while extending them to others. Some mentors were part of a community advocacy group that promotes a healthy way of life in the community as a whole. Researchers will evaluate whether the school and mentoring programs improved the children’s and families’ nutrition and increased their level of physical activity.