Public Health Communication
A. SUSANA RAMÍREZ, PhD, MPH
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What Mexican-American women think of when they think of healthy foods - and what that means for communicating about health in a culturally appropriate manner

1/4/2019

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I spend a lot of my time doing research related to understanding how to communicate in a culturally appropriate manner with bicultural audiences. This is increasingly important because bicultural Latinos are a growing segment of the US population and yet epidemiological evidence suggests they are at high risk for poor health. 

In one study published last year in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, we found that Mexican-American described food as central to expressing cultural identity. Yet Mexican food traditions were characterized as unhealthy; many preferred American foods, which were seen as healthier. Among the participants who expressed a desire to eat healthfully, to do so meant to reject Mexican ways of eating.

This study raises questions about the nature of the “dietary acculturation paradox.” While food—the eating of Mexican foods—is central to the maintenance of ethnic identity throughout acculturation, negative perceptions about the healthfulness of Mexican foods introduce tension into Mexican-American women’s self-identification. This study suggests a subtle contradiction that may help to explain the dietary acculturation paradox: While previous research has suggested that as Mexicans acculturate to the United States they adopt unhealthy diets, this study finds evidence that they do so at least in part due to perceptions that American diets are healthier than Mexican diets. Implications for interventions to improve Latinos’ diets include an emphasis on the family and use of Spanish linguistic cues. Finally, messages that simply advocate for “traditional” diets should be reconsidered because that message is discordant with perceptions of the healthfulness of such foods.

How would you go about designing effective nutrition education messages for this group? 
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Partnering with Communities to Address Latino Obesity

10/27/2014

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I'm pleased to share that I am part of a multidisciplinary team of investigators recently awarded an NIH planning grant (R13) to organize with communities in the San Joaquin Valley to address the burden of obesity among the Latino community. Over the next 3 years, we will convene a series of workshops that will bring researchers from public health, psychology, anthropology, and sociology together with community members and organizations to discuss barriers to healthful eating and physical activity. An important aim of the grant is to create a meaningful dialogue and partnership between academics and community members. From the academic side, we hope to learn about the challenges this community faces and the solutions they propose, and we hope to contribute our expertise in research design to help tackle the problem.

Read more about the awesome team and project here:
California Healthline, by Alice Daniel - UC Merced Takes Grassroots Approach to Reducing Obesity
Merced Sun Star, by Ana B. Ibarra - New grant forms partnership between UC Merced and nonprofits to fight obesity

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Salud a la Mesa - Univision features our food access research

9/4/2014

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The segment below was featured on Univision's Health Week / Semana de la Salud on Tuesday, August 26, 2014. Watch below or go to the website to view the rest of the videos featuring challenges to eating healthfully - exacerbated by the drought - faced by vulnerable communities in California's Central Valley. 

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Univision interview on food deserts and food insecurity in the San Joaquin Valley

7/24/2014

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Perhaps the most striking thing I have learned in my year in the Central Valley is this paradox: 65% of the produce consumed in the U.S. comes from this region, yet the people who pick that produce are at high risk of food insecurity and lack access to healthy, fresh foods. 

I had the opportunity to talk about this problem and one solution - the food truck, Produce on the Go - with the Univision documentary crew who came out to film Produce on the Go. I loved the experience and can't wait to see the results. 

Watch for the segment on Univision in August!
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South Merced Health Fair - Fun & Recruitment

7/17/2014

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A big event for South Merced! Our Produce on the Go food truck is going to be featured on an Univision Health Week program, and in its honor, a health fair was held at South Merced's Golden Valley Health Center. Participants included: registrants for Covered California, dancing fruit, hula hoop dancers, and (my favorite!) a class of children who handed out samples of tasty and nutritious smoothies.
We took advantage of this opportunity to bring some students out to recruit participants for a study to evaluate the National Cancer Institute's healthy eating text messaging program.
For more information about the food truck / mobile grocery, check out: http://makesomeonehappy.us/projects.html#potg 
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    A. SUSANA RAMÍREZ
    ​Associate Profesor
    ​Public Health Communication

    sramirez37 at ucmerced dot edu

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