Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States whose health is disproportionately affected by chronic disease. In California, Latinos have twice the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and are twice as likely to die as a result of uncontrolled diabetes when compared to non-Hispanic whites (Conroy, Lee, Pendleton, & Bates, 2014).
Genomic based health care provides an opportunity to address the health disparities experienced by Latinos but only when Latinos have an adequate understanding of and access to genomic based health care, including behavioral interventions. Underserved communities that include low-income Latinos are underrepresented in genomic research; in addition, there is limited research that integrates genomic information into empirically validated behavioral interventions that use established theoretical frameworks (Graves, Hay, and O'Neill, 2014).
The proposed project aims to leverage genomic information that is tailored and integrated into nutrition behavioral interventions utilizing the extended parallel process model to improve the health and nutritional well-being of Latinos living with pre-diabetes in the San Fernando Valley and reduce health disparities.