Latino church-going parents' insights on childhood obesity prevention.

Childhood obesity continues to be a priority health concern in the United States. Faith communities present a viable venue for health promotion programming. The majority of obesity prevention programming focuses on African American populations. Subsequently, insights for obesity prevention programming in Latino faith communities are lacking. This qualitative study aimed to gain insight into Latino church-going parents' perspectives on childhood obesity and faith-based obesity prevention strategies. Participants were Latino church-going parents with children ages 10-18, recruited from predominantly Latino churches in south Texas, United States. Focus groups were conducted with a total of 56 Latino participants from nine churches. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Inductive content analysis was performed and assisted by NVivo. Participants were aware of the obesity facing their congregations. Parents' affirmation of the physical body being God's Temple supported the development of obesity prevention programs in faith community settings. Participants suggested integration of spiritual and physical health promotion through health sermons, Bible study, Sunday school, nutrition classes and physical activities for both children and adults. In brief, Latino church-going parents were concerned about childhood obesity and perceived the need for developing obesity prevention programs integrating both faith and health promotion.

Building a Healthy Temple diabetes self-management education support program in Hispanic faith community settings: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Diabetes self-management is key to preventing diabetes complications disproportionately affecting Hispanics. Church appears a promising setting for delivering a diabetes self-management education support (DSMES) program. "Faith-placed" (FP) programing refers to health interventions implemented in the church setting; while "faith-based" (FB) signifies integrating spirituality with health interventions. The Building a Health Temple (BHT) DSMES program integrates spirituality with DSMES to improve diabetic outcomes. This cluster-randomized trial tests the effectiveness of BHT DSMES by adapting an existing DSMES program into faith-based context. A total of 360 participants will be recruited from 18 churches (~20 participants/church). Churches will be randomly assigned to either the FB or FP intervention arm. Intervention activities will be implemented over 14 consecutive weeks. Participants in the FB arm will participate in BHT DSMES including a Health Sermon, the Self-Management Resource Center (SMRC) Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP), and a 7-session Healthy Bible Study, delivered by two trained church lay health leaders. Participants in the FP arm will attend the same SMRC DSMP facilitated by outside health professional, followed by a 7-session community health and safety curriculum as a partial attention control intervention. The primary outcome will be a change in Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level. Secondary outcomes include: changes in body mass index, waist circumference, diabetes distress score, diabetes self-care behaviors, eating behavior, and physical activity level. Data will be collected at baseline, 6, 9, and 12 months during the study period. The proposed study will lead to innovative DSMES program delivery through faith settings for Hispanic persons with diabetes.

Latino church leaders' perspectives on childhood obesity prevention.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity among Latino children is an increasing concern. Churches are settings that a majority of Latino families frequent on a regular basis. In addition to religious worship, churches supply social, emotional, and material support. Therefore, churches may be promising venues for obesity-prevention interventions engaging families and communities. PURPOSE: To qualitatively examine Latino church leaders' perspectives on childhood obesity and insights on obesity-prevention programming in faith-based community settings in South Texas. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted between 2009 and 2011 with a purposive sample of 35 Latino church leaders from 18 churches in San Antonio, Texas. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Inductive analysis was performed to identify themes. RESULTS: The results revealed that participants were knowledgeable about the severity and health consequences of childhood obesity, and the extent to which it was affecting members of their congregations. Participants discussed the interconnection between one's faith and health (i.e., one's body as "God's Temple"). They suggested that churches could serve as a conduit for obesity-prevention programs that offer faith-oriented health education, cooking classes, and fun physical activity opportunities for both parents and children. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals the strong potential of faith-based communities to serve as an intervention setting with the needed infrastructure for implementing effective obesity-prevention strategies.