# Community Active and Healthy Families: Family-Centered Obesity Treatment for Latino Children

> **NIH NIH R56** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2022 · $629,454

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Effective, family-oriented childhood weight management interventions for Latinos are critical in order to
decrease lifetime cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk that stems from childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a
risk factor for adult CVD, the leading cause of death in the US. One in four US children is Latino, and Latino
children have among the highest childhood obesity rates of any US racial/ethnic group. US-born Latino
children of immigrant parents comprise half of US Latino children and experience higher overweight/obesity
rates than other Latino children. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends referral of all obese
children to an intensive weight management program to prompt behavior changes to decrease body mass
index (BMI). Intensive programs are mainly found in clinical settings, are limited in number and are frequently
impractical for Latino immigrant families. Reducing obesity disparities for Latino children in immigrant families
requires addressing the current lack of evidence-based obesity treatment programs that are tailored to their
sociocultural needs and delivered at a feasible intensity. The proposed research addresses this gap via the
Community-Active and Healthy Families (Community-AHF) program. Community-AHF is a behavioral-theory
based, culturally tailored, Spanish-language weight management program for 5-12 year old overweight/obese
Latino children and their families. Community-AHF was adapted from a group visit weight management
program delivered in healthcare settings that demonstrated effectiveness in reducing child BMI for Latino
children in low-income immigrant families. Previously, stakeholders were engaged to identify adaptations to
retain key components while accounting for the change in delivery setting using intervention mapping. To
prepare to implement Community-AHF we will use a related process-implementation mapping. A key area of
focus for implementation mapping will be on the equitable distribution of power and knowledge between the
academic team and the community organizations delivering the intervention. Subsequently, a Hybrid Type II
Implementation/Effectiveness trial will be conducted to simultaneously evaluate the effectiveness of
Community-AHF at reducing child BMI using a pragmatic randomized controlled trial and its implementation
using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Community-
AHF will be implemented in two Latino immigrant communities, one emerging and one established, in
partnership with Latino-immigrant serving community organizations. Common and distinct challenges from
implementation in key typologies of Latino immigrant communities will inform future scaling. Findings from this
study will address a gap in knowledge about the implementation processes and strategies that are effective in
reaching implementation outcome goals and that support and sustain equitable community partnerships and
our findings will ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10705362
- **Project number:** 1R56HL157048-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisa Ross DeCamp
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $629,454
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-23 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10705362

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10705362, Community Active and Healthy Families: Family-Centered Obesity Treatment for Latino Children (1R56HL157048-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10705362. Licensed CC0.

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