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Health Problem: Obesity Among Low-Income Hispanic Adults

Yusmila Macias

Florida National University

Health Promotion & Role Development in Adv. Nursing Practice

Prof. Nora Hernandez Pupo

November 18, 2025

Health Problem: Obesity Among Low-Income Hispanic Adults

Obesity is among the most urgent community health issues in the United States, which is unevenly distributed among the marginalized and underserved populations. Obesity is a condition of increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, and earlier death due to a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m 2 or more. Statistics in the United States indicate that over forty-three percent of adults are obese in the United States, and the prevalence is on the increase in all age categories (Islam et al., 2024). The burden among Hispanic adults is much greater, and the prevalence rates are more than 45, especially in low-income households (Errisuriz et al., 2024). The patterns show that obesity is not only rampant but also chronic, as socioeconomic influences determine the availability of healthy foods, physical exercise accessibility, and preventive health care. The suggested health promotion plan will cover lowering the risk of obesity among Hispanic adults with low income in terms of culturally based nutrition education, as well as community-based physical activity. One of the quantifiable results will be a 5% decrease in the BMI and waist circumference of the participants within 12 weeks, with the added benefit of an increase in the daily intake of fruits and vegetables and moderate levels of physical activity.

Description of the Vulnerable Population

Hispanic adults with low income levels constitute a vulnerable group because of the synergies between socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental risk factors, which increase their predisposition to obesity. The lack of economic means restricts access to nutritious foods, especially within the regions covered by food deserts and food swamps, where fast foods that are rich in calories are more affordable than fresh foods (Vilar-Compte et al., 2021). Research indicates that Hispanic people in poor areas have a higher chance of having restricted access to supermarkets, greater exposure to unhealthy eating establishments, and fewer community recreational places. This sets an atmosphere that promotes poor lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits.

Cultural vulnerabilities are also a contribution to vulnerability. Mainstream diets rich in refined grains, oils, and starchy foods, in combination with the changing dietary patterns created by acculturation, raise the amount of calories and decrease the quality of diet in many Hispanic families. Also, the cultural values of emphasizing the large amount of served food portions, socializing around food, and discussing the subject of weight minimally promote weight gain and delayed intervention. Access to preventive services and nutrition counseling is also minimized due to linguistic barriers and poor health literacy.

There are also signs that Hispanic adults with low income tend to have chronic stress induced by their status in immigration, low-paying jobs, and family. Stress is chronic and raises the levels of cortisol, increasing the appetite and fat buildup in the abdomen. Moreover, there are systemic inequalities (such as the inability to get adequate healthcare, insurance, and culturally competent providers) that negatively impact the outcomes of obesity in this group of people. These social determinants of health subject the low-income Hispanic adults to an increased risk of developing obesity and its associated complications.

Review of Literature: Evidence-Based Interventions

Hoelscher et al. (2022) reviewed evidence-based dietary interventions to prevent obesity, with a focus on the role of making nutrition education and meal planning assistance locally available and community-level strategies to change diet. The advantages of this research are that it reviewed a variety of different forms of interventions: group education, individual counselling, and digital nutrition tools. These treatments had continued to show moderate results in dietary change and weight reduction. Nevertheless, there was a clear drawback of a limitation of the majority of studies to the lack of long-term follow-up, which made it difficult to establish whether weight reduction is sustainable in the long run. Further, the applicability to the Hispanic population was not universal; most interventions had not been culturally modified to suit the ethnic minority population.

Caperon et al. (2022) have measured the preventive measures, which consisted of structured physical activity and community engagement programs. Their results point out that exercise programs implemented in communities, with the help of behavioral support, decrease the BMI significantly, ameliorate the lipid profiles, and improve the overall metabolic health. An advantage of this article is that it is dedicated to multilevel interventions, such as environmental support, like safe walking trails, and group exercise classes. However, one weakness is that it needs large community resources to implement, and the resources might be unavailable in low-income communities. It was also very restricted in terms of generalizing the results since a lot of studies were carried out in well-funded urban societies.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Literature

All in all, there is a wide agreement in the literature regarding the effectiveness of a combination of nutrition education and physical activity in the prevention and management of obesity. Behavioral change theory-based interventions show quantifiable enhancements and can be modified to be executed at a group or individual level. One of the strongest points of the reviewed evidence is the constant focus on immersing and engaging the community setting, schools, churches, and recreation centers, into the design of the intervention, which fits the Hispanic community structure perfectly.

Nonetheless, there are also some weaknesses in the literature. Structural inequities, including food availability, neighbourhood safety, and socioeconomic barriers, are many interventions that have not been readily tackled. Very little literature has appropriately integrated a cultural adaptation and is therefore limited to Hispanic communities whose diet, communication patterns, and health philosophy are not similar to other communities. The majority of the studies also have no strong data on outcomes in the long term, so it is difficult to ascertain whether the weight loss is sustained after the end of the program.

Conceptual Framework: The Social Ecological Model (SEM)

The Social Ecological Model (SEM) provides a suitable conceptual framework on which this health promotion proposal can be guided since it recognizes the multiple levels of influence, such as individual, interpersonal, community, and policy, which predispose individuals to obesity. At the individual level, SEM endorses interventions that lead to improved nutrition knowledge, physical activities, and self-efficacy toward healthy behavior (Deslippe et al., 2023). In the case of low-income Hispanic adults, this might involve education culturally responsive to the portion sizes, reading labels, and affordable healthy eating.

At the interpersonal level, SEM acknowledges family and social networks as influential in the Hispanic culture. The elements of family-based education, group kitchen classes, and peer support may greatly contribute to the involvement and behavioral change maintenance (Metcalfe et al., 2021). In collectivistic cultures, such as in social modeling plays a significant role since decisions are usually made at family or community levels.

SEM focuses on changing the environments to promote healthier options at the community and policy levels. This can be working with local organizations to offer safe exercise places, supporting farmer market vouchers, or working with food banks to deliver healthier choices. SEM will guarantee that the intervention is not just limited to individual behavior by tackling both environmental and systemic barriers to produce sustainable community impact.

References

Caperon, L., Saville, F., & Ahern, S. (2022). Developing a socio-ecological model for community engagement in a health programme in an underserved urban area. PLoS ONE, 17(9), e0275092. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275092

Deslippe, A. L., Soanes, A., Bouchaud, C. C., Beckenstein, H., Slim, M., Plourde, H., & Cohen, T. R. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity, and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01424-2

Errisuriz, V. L., Zambrana, R. E., & Parra-Medina, D. (2024). Critical analyses of Latina mortality: disentangling the heterogeneity of ethnic origin, place, nativity, race, and socioeconomic status. BMC Public Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17721-9

Hoelscher, D. M., Brann, L. S., O’Brien, S., Handu, D., & Rozga, M. (2022). Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity: Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Based on an Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 122(2), 410-423.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.11.003

Islam, S., Sultana, H., Refat, H., Farhana, Z., Kamil, A. A., & Rahman, M. M. (2024). The global burden of overweight-obesity and its association with economic status, benefiting from STEPs survey of WHO member states: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine Reports, 46, 102882–102882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102882

Metcalfe, J. J., Prescott, M. P., Schumacher, M., Kownacki, C., & McCaffrey, J. (2021). Community-based culinary and nutrition education intervention promotes fruit and vegetable consumption. Public Health Nutrition, 25(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980021003797

Vilar-Compte, M., Burrola-Méndez, S., Lozano-Marrufo, A., Ferré-Eguiluz, I., Flores, D., Gaitán-Rossi, P., Teruel, G., & Pérez-Escamilla, R. (2021). Urban Poverty and Nutrition Challenges Associated with Accessibility to a Healthy diet: a Global Systematic Literature Review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01330-0

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Health Problem: Obesity Among Low-Income Hispanic Adults

Yusmila Macias

Florida National University

Health Promotion & Role Development in Adv. Nursing Practice

Prof. Nora Hernandez Pupo

November 18, 2025

Health Problem: Obesity Among Low-Income Hispanic Adults

Obesity is among the most urgent community health issues in the United States, which is unevenly distributed among the marginalized and underserved populations. Obesity is a condition of increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, and earlier death due to a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m 2 or more. Statistics in the United States indicate that over forty-three percent of adults are obese in the United States, and the prevalence is on the increase in all age categories (Islam et al., 2024). The burden among Hispanic adults is much greater, and the prevalence rates are more than 45, especially in low-income households (Errisuriz et al., 2024). The patterns show that obesity is not only rampant but also chronic, as socioeconomic influences determine the availability of healthy foods, physical exercise accessibility, and preventive health care. The suggested health promotion plan will cover lowering the risk of obesity among Hispanic adults with low income in terms of culturally based nutrition education, as well as community-based physical activity. One of the quantifiable results will be a 5% decrease in the BMI and waist circumference of the participants within 12 weeks, with the added benefit of an increase in the daily intake of fruits and vegetables and moderate levels of physical activity.

Description of the Vulnerable Population

Hispanic adults with low income levels constitute a vulnerable group because of the synergies between socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental risk factors, which increase their predisposition to obesity. The lack of economic means restricts access to nutritious foods, especially within the regions covered by food deserts and food swamps, where fast foods that are rich in calories are more affordable than fresh foods (Vilar-Compte et al., 2021). Research indicates that Hispanic people in poor areas have a higher chance of having restricted access to supermarkets, greater exposure to unhealthy eating establishments, and fewer community recreational places. This sets an atmosphere that promotes poor lifestyles and unhealthy eating habits.

Cultural vulnerabilities are also a contribution to vulnerability. Mainstream diets rich in refined grains, oils, and starchy foods, in combination with the changing dietary patterns created by acculturation, raise the amount of calories and decrease the quality of diet in many Hispanic families. Also, the cultural values of emphasizing the large amount of served food portions, socializing around food, and discussing the subject of weight minimally promote weight gain and delayed intervention. Access to preventive services and nutrition counseling is also minimized due to linguistic barriers and poor health literacy.

There are also signs that Hispanic adults with low income tend to have chronic stress induced by their status in immigration, low-paying jobs, and family. Stress is chronic and raises the levels of cortisol, increasing the appetite and fat buildup in the abdomen. Moreover, there are systemic inequalities (such as the inability to get adequate healthcare, insurance, and culturally competent providers) that negatively impact the outcomes of obesity in this group of people. These social determinants of health subject the low-income Hispanic adults to an increased risk of developing obesity and its associated complications.

Review of Literature: Evidence-Based Interventions

Hoelscher et al. (2022) reviewed evidence-based dietary interventions to prevent obesity, with a focus on the role of making nutrition education and meal planning assistance locally available and community-level strategies to change diet. The advantages of this research are that it reviewed a variety of different forms of interventions: group education, individual counselling, and digital nutrition tools. These treatments had continued to show moderate results in dietary change and weight reduction. Nevertheless, there was a clear drawback of a limitation of the majority of studies to the lack of long-term follow-up, which made it difficult to establish whether weight reduction is sustainable in the long run. Further, the applicability to the Hispanic population was not universal; most interventions had not been culturally modified to suit the ethnic minority population.

Caperon et al. (2022) have measured the preventive measures, which consisted of structured physical activity and community engagement programs. Their results point out that exercise programs implemented in communities, with the help of behavioral support, decrease the BMI significantly, ameliorate the lipid profiles, and improve the overall metabolic health. An advantage of this article is that it is dedicated to multilevel interventions, such as environmental support, like safe walking trails, and group exercise classes. However, one weakness is that it needs large community resources to implement, and the resources might be unavailable in low-income communities. It was also very restricted in terms of generalizing the results since a lot of studies were carried out in well-funded urban societies.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Literature

All in all, there is a wide agreement in the literature regarding the effectiveness of a combination of nutrition education and physical activity in the prevention and management of obesity. Behavioral change theory-based interventions show quantifiable enhancements and can be modified to be executed at a group or individual level. One of the strongest points of the reviewed evidence is the constant focus on immersing and engaging the community setting, schools, churches, and recreation centers, into the design of the intervention, which fits the Hispanic community structure perfectly.

Nonetheless, there are also some weaknesses in the literature. Structural inequities, including food availability, neighbourhood safety, and socioeconomic barriers, are many interventions that have not been readily tackled. Very little literature has appropriately integrated a cultural adaptation and is therefore limited to Hispanic communities whose diet, communication patterns, and health philosophy are not similar to other communities. The majority of the studies also have no strong data on outcomes in the long term, so it is difficult to ascertain whether the weight loss is sustained after the end of the program.

Conceptual Framework: The Social Ecological Model (SEM)

The Social Ecological Model (SEM) provides a suitable conceptual framework on which this health promotion proposal can be guided since it recognizes the multiple levels of influence, such as individual, interpersonal, community, and policy, which predispose individuals to obesity. At the individual level, SEM endorses interventions that lead to improved nutrition knowledge, physical activities, and self-efficacy toward healthy behavior (Deslippe et al., 2023). In the case of low-income Hispanic adults, this might involve education culturally responsive to the portion sizes, reading labels, and affordable healthy eating.

At the interpersonal level, SEM acknowledges family and social networks as influential in the Hispanic culture. The elements of family-based education, group kitchen classes, and peer support may greatly contribute to the involvement and behavioral change maintenance (Metcalfe et al., 2021). In collectivistic cultures, such as in social modeling plays a significant role since decisions are usually made at family or community levels.

SEM focuses on changing the environments to promote healthier options at the community and policy levels. This can be working with local organizations to offer safe exercise places, supporting farmer market vouchers, or working with food banks to deliver healthier choices. SEM will guarantee that the intervention is not just limited to individual behavior by tackling both environmental and systemic barriers to produce sustainable community impact.

References

Caperon, L., Saville, F., & Ahern, S. (2022). Developing a socio-ecological model for community engagement in a health programme in an underserved urban area. PLoS ONE, 17(9), e0275092. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275092

Deslippe, A. L., Soanes, A., Bouchaud, C. C., Beckenstein, H., Slim, M., Plourde, H., & Cohen, T. R. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity, and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01424-2

Errisuriz, V. L., Zambrana, R. E., & Parra-Medina, D. (2024). Critical analyses of Latina mortality: disentangling the heterogeneity of ethnic origin, place, nativity, race, and socioeconomic status. BMC Public Health, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17721-9

Hoelscher, D. M., Brann, L. S., O’Brien, S., Handu, D., & Rozga, M. (2022). Prevention of Pediatric Overweight and Obesity: Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Based on an Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 122(2), 410-423.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.11.003

Islam, S., Sultana, H., Refat, H., Farhana, Z., Kamil, A. A., & Rahman, M. M. (2024). The global burden of overweight-obesity and its association with economic status, benefiting from STEPs survey of WHO member states: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine Reports, 46, 102882–102882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102882

Metcalfe, J. J., Prescott, M. P., Schumacher, M., Kownacki, C., & McCaffrey, J. (2021). Community-based culinary and nutrition education intervention promotes fruit and vegetable consumption. Public Health Nutrition, 25(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980021003797

Vilar-Compte, M., Burrola-Méndez, S., Lozano-Marrufo, A., Ferré-Eguiluz, I., Flores, D., Gaitán-Rossi, P., Teruel, G., & Pérez-Escamilla, R. (2021). Urban Poverty and Nutrition Challenges Associated with Accessibility to a Healthy diet: a Global Systematic Literature Review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01330-0