Comprando rico y sano: Promoting health-conscious shopping in Latino communities

INTRODUCTION: Latino populations are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases related to obesity and being overweight. Various factors contribute to this trend, some of which include lower socioeconomic status, lack of physical activity, and poor diet. APPROACH: In an effort to address this issue the National Council of La Raza's (NCLR) Institute for Hispanic Health developed a healthy shopping curriculum titled Comprando Rico y Sano. Over the course of three years, NCLR has implemented the program at twenty-two community-based organizations from its national affiliate network. Using a promotores de salud (community health workers) model, the project will have reached over 10,000 Latinos by the end of 2013. Comprando Rico y Sano includes grocery store tours and cooking demonstrations that provide concrete examples of how to use the information being shared. RESULTS: The charlas have produced a significant increase in the percentage of participants who reported being familiar with the USDA's MyPlate (78% to 98%, p<.0001). There was also a significant increase in those indicating that they were very confident that they could find healthy foods when grocery shopping (50% to 76%, p < .0001). DISCUSSION: The program has increased knowledge of healthy food choices and awareness of healthy shopping strategies. With most of the participants being responsible for food choices in their households the benefit of this program has been amplified, extending to the larger family unit.