Obesity & Weight Control

The Native American and Hispanic communities have the highest obesity and diabetes rates in the United States. While these rates are high, these communities tend to show low adherence to bariatric programs making this a major health issue. There is little known on the factors causing these low rates, and this study was done to find out why. The only factors known are that of the perception of the physician but we do not know exactly what is impacting these communities, thus, making this an important study to carry out.

We propose 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.