Feasibility and Acceptability of a Beverage Intervention for Hispanic Adults

In the U.S., Hispanics have the highest rates of overweight and obesity when compared to other racial/ethnic groups placing them at a greater risk for obesity-related disease. Yet, current literature is limited to information on best practices to engage Hispanics in health-promoting lifestyle interventions. Without this information the health consequences associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and high cholesterol, will continue. Evidence exists to support diet-specific behavioral interventions in reducing obesity-related health risks. Among the more adoptable interventions to date are efforts targeting beverage intake. Yet, there are limited data to suggest these approaches are effective for Hispanics despite this being the fastest growing and highest burdened group for obesity-related disease within the U.S. population. This study aims to 1) assess the feasibility and acceptability of a prescribed beverage intervention in 50 obese Hispanic adults ages 18-64 years over 6 weeks; 2) assess preliminary effects of the beverage intervention on cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as other markers of health such as blood pressure, glucose and markers of inflammation. This project, if successful, will provide early evidence that targeting dietary behavior around beverage intake could be a novel and easily adopted approach to reduce the burden or delay the onset of metabolic abnormalities in obese Hispanic adults. The expected outcome of the proposed project is the identification of feasible and appropriate beverage intervention strategies to improve engagement and adherence to dietary modification approaches for control of metabolic health indicators in this vulnerable ethnic group.