Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2008 Jul-Aug;40(4):208-25.
doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2008.03.011.

Impact of peer nutrition education on dietary behaviors and health outcomes among Latinos: a systematic literature review

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla  1 , Amber Hromi-Fiedler, Sonia Vega-López, Angela Bermúdez-Millán, Sofia Segura-Pérez
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Impact of peer nutrition education on dietary behaviors and health outcomes among Latinos: a systematic literature review

Rafael Pérez-Escamilla et al. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2008 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review assesses the impact of peer education/counseling on nutrition and health outcomes among Latinos and identifies future research needs.

Design: A systematic literature search was conducted by: (1) searching Internet databases; (2) conducting backward searches from reference lists of articles of interest; (3) manually reviewing the archives of the Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos; (4) searching the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior; and (5) directly contacting researchers in the field. The authors reviewed 22 articles derived from experimental or quasi-experimental studies.

Outcome measures: Type 2 diabetes behavioral and metabolic outcomes, breastfeeding, nutrition knowledge, attitudes and behaviors.

Results: Peer nutrition education has a positive influence on diabetes self-management and breastfeeding outcomes, as well as on general nutrition knowledge and dietary intake behaviors among Latinos.

Conclusions and implications: There is a need for longitudinal randomized trials testing the impact of peer nutrition education interventions grounded on goal setting and culturally appropriate behavioral change theories. Inclusion of reliable scales and the construct of acculturation are needed to further advance knowledge in this promising field. Operational research is also needed to identify the optimal peer educator characteristics, the type of training that they should receive, the client loads and dosage (ie, frequency and amount of contact needed between peer educator and client), and the best educational approaches and delivery settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Systematic Literature Review Process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. US Census Bureau. The Hispanic Population in the United States, 2006 March CPS. [February 10, 2008]. Available at www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/ho06.html.
    1. LaVeist TA. Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Ross Publishers; 2005.
    1. Nord M, Andrews M, Carlson S. Household Food Security in the United States, 2006. Economic Research Report Number 49. [December, 2007]. Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR49/ERR49.pdf.
    1. Wang Y, Beydoun MA. The obesity epidemic in the United States--gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Epidemiol Rev. 2007;29:6–28. - PubMed
    1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. National Diabetes statistics fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2005. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Insitute of Health; 2005.

Publication types