News & Events
NIH funds cross border obesity research in US and Mexico
National Institutes of Health $100,000 grant awarded to Texas Obesity Research Center
Bilingual children’s book published by Arte Publico Press
teaches healthy lifestyles to Latino kids
The epidemic of obesity is a multicultural challenge, requiring efforts that maneuver the complicated networks of not just one culture, but many. A $100,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health will support research to establish a multinational strategy to combat physical inactivity — a breeding ground for obesity.
“We will build a scientific, multinational collaboration, identify behavioral and social science research priorities, and develop a long-term collaborative agenda focusing on the problem of physical inactivity and physical activity maintenance across the lifespan of Hispanics, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans,” said Rebecca Lee, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance and director of the Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC).
Lee is conducting research in Mexico through a Fulbright Garcia-Robles award. The project capitalizes on an existing collaboration between TORC and Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico, as well as opportunities present in the city of Houston and state of Texas, home to a sizeable Hispanic population. Guadalajara is similar in population size to Houston and its citizens face many of the same challenges that Houstonians do in meeting physical activity guidelines, such as traffic congestion, long commutes and poor air quality.
“Based on factors including high rates of immigration, evident cultural impact and strong economic ties, it is clear that health challenges in Mexico directly impact the health of Americans,” Lee said. “Recent data suggest the obesity problem has emerged in Mexico, affecting youth, particularly. A contributing factor to this emerging problem is the high rate of physical inactivity.”
Lee says the scientific collaborations with researchers from around the globe will yield educational models, a white paper and a call to action for funding agencies to prioritize programs dealing with physical inactivity and its relationship to obesity. She’s says their efforts will benefit the work of fellow researchers and policymakers across borders.
- Marisa Ramirez