NEW COALITION WANTS TO IMPROVE LATINO DIETS

Amy Sung

BOSTON -- Hispanics are becoming bad eaters, and a new group wants to do something about it.

The Latino Nutrition Coalition is developing programs aimed at helping Latinos eat healthier.

"As Latinos get more acculturated with the U.S., they adopt unhealthy habits from the mainstream American culture," said Cynthia Harriman, advisor to the coalition and director of food and nutrition strategies, Oldways Preservation Trust, a nonprofit organization promoting good nutrition and health with traditional foods and lifestyles. The coalition is based at Oldways, located here.

The coalition is organizing local, regional and national health-awareness campaigns that include cooking demonstrations and signage at supermarkets, Harriman said at a seminar at the Expo Comida Latina food and beverage show, held in New York Sept. 12 and 13.

Other efforts include continuing education courses for physicians, dietitians and nurses; in-school programs; restaurant promotions; product packaging; and community festivals.

Oldways created the first Latin American Diet pyramid in 1996 as a way to promote traditional Latino diets. Also at this time, Oldways held its first international conference on Latin American diet and health in El Paso, Texas, where health professionals from both sides of the border convened to discuss the best ways to present a healthier eating pattern for Latinos.

In May 2005, Oldways organized a group of scientists, nutritionists, industry leaders and chefs in Mexico City to update and re-examine key issues in Latino health and nutrition. It was at this meeting that the idea for the Latino Nutrition Coalition was conceived. The coalition officially launched in August, when a membership drive began. Since then, Mission Foods, the U.S. Potato Board and the Peanut Institute, among others, have joined.

The organization is currently focusing on getting the word out about its efforts through trade publications. It will begin forming partnerships within the health care community early next year and will launch consumer awareness efforts in the second quarter of 2006.

Manufacturers of whole-grain products have teamed up with the group to promote consumption of whole grains. Included in the effort are joint promotions, advertising and public relations.

Harriman wants the coalition to follow in the steps of the Whole Grains Council in terms of improving packaging for Latino products. She cited how product packaging now contains symbols designating whether a product contains whole grains. The coalition would like to do the same with Latino foods.

The formation of the group comes at a time when Hispanic Americans are among the least healthy of all Americans, accounting for towering rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and physical inactivity.

The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is almost twice as high among Latinos than for non-Latino whites, while heart disease and stroke is the leading cause of death among Hispanics. Obesity is also a problem, as Latinos tend to be more overweight than the average American, and over half of the Hispanic American population does not participate in any sort of physical activity during their leisure time.

"There are some food-related health problems that hit the Hispanic population more than they do the rest of the American population, and most of these problems have diet and lifestyle solutions," Harriman said.

Traditional Hispanic foods are healthy, including a wide variety of whole grains, potatoes, fruits, vegetables and beans. But many Hispanics are now passing them over in favor of less healthy American foods.

Harriman suggested that the stigma of traditional foods is a factor.

"The food that you ate back home in a rural area, that your grandmother fed you, is being associated with the old life that you're leaving behind to do something new and better," she said.

Heavy advertising of less healthy foods and the fast-paced lifestyle of America are other contributing factors.

The level of acculturation plays a big role in the Hispanic diet. The longer a Hispanic person is in the United States, the more consumption of fresh produce decreases, while that of soda, high-fat snacks, fruit drinks and fast food increases. More acculturated groups also cook more American dishes, use more prepared foods and eat out more.

Less acculturated Hispanics, in comparison, tend to cook more traditional dishes, cook from scratch daily, seldom eat out and have large mental cookbooks of recipes, having cooked from scratch daily for a number of years.

The goal of the coalition is to get Hispanics to encourage consumption of traditional Hispanic foods.

"We want to look at what was best from traditional diets, and bring it to the modern day in terms of convenience and fitting it with today's lifestyle," Harriman said. "We want to make traditional foods more available, and at the same time we want to introduce non-Latinos to the taste and health of traditional Latino diets."

For more information, visit www.latinonutrition.org.