UT public health professor receives grant
to study Latinos’ body image
HOUSTON – (July 31, 2009) – Cristina Barroso, Dr.P.H., assistant professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences at The University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus, has received a two-year, $75,000 grant from Salud America! to research how Mexican-Americans in the Lower Rio Grande Valley perceive body image.
Cristina Barroso, Dr.P.H.
The award is given for research in reducing and preventing obesity among Latino youth.
Barroso’s proposal, “Body Image Perceptions Among Latinos,” will examine the cultural beliefs about body size and shape that may affect physical inactivity, and, ultimately, obesity.
“Adults directly influence the way children view their bodies and what is accepted, especially in the Latino culture,” said Barroso. “Through this study, I hope to eventually help tailor positive messages of healthy self body image for people in the community, schools and media to change the way they think.”
Barroso theorizes that a heavier body image is widely accepted in the Latino community. She hopes that identifying potentially unhealthy body image perceptions will lead to educating parents, grandparents and children about a healthier body image.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 47.2 percent of Hispanic boys and girls ages 6-11 are overweight and 42 percent of Hispanic boys and girls ages 12-19 are overweight. Among Anglo children, almost 30 percent of boys and girls ages 6-11 are overweight and approximately 32 percent of boys and girls ages 12-19 are overweight.
As part of her research, Barroso will survey children, parents and grandparents about their perceptions of healthy body types. Participants will be asked to view sketches of body silhouettes and select the body type they perceive as healthy and the type which most resembles their own. Physical activity in children will also be assessed and measured through self-reporting questionnaires and an accelerometer, a device that is worn on the belt and senses movement to accurately measure physical activity.
“We all know that changing lifestyle practices are among the most difficult of health-related tasks. To do this requires a detailed understanding of people’s perceptions of themselves and what messages or images will motivate people to acquire better health habits,” said Joseph B. McCormick, M.D., professor and regional dean at the UT School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus. “Dr. Barroso’s research goes to the heart of this matter by trying to understand how local young people view themselves.”
Barroso’s application was among 90 received for the two-year grants. Salud America!, a national research network on Latino childhood obesity, is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.