ABSTRACT
Research on Mexican immigrant/Mexican American families is particularly worthwhile given the growth of this population in the United States (US). Most nutrition research involving Mexican immigrant/Mexican American families, including our own, has focused on dietary behavioral risk factors and how these are related to greater risk for health problems than in the general population. The Socio-Ecological Model for Latino Health Promotion depicts four levels of influence on health behaviors, and the people within these spheres of influence that have an impact on our health behaviors. The model was developed in collaboration with fellow investigators at the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, a research institute affiliated with San Diego State University. It is based on Bronfenbrenner's Social Ecological Framework and similar work by Stokols and Green and Kreuter, as well as our individual and collective experiences implementing a variety of health behavior change interventions in the community.
