Spot the Block: Teaching Hispanic American Parents and Tweens about the Food Nutrition Label

Background: Bernardo Public Relations (BPR) worked with the FDA Spot the Block program to reach Hispanic families with culturally relevant training about reading the Nutrition Facts Label. 

Program background: The methodology to address the obesity epidemic used to reach the Hispanic community was to employ the best practice model of using “Promotoras,” translated as promoters or grassroots educators, for the campaign. Several studies by organizations, such as Visión y Compromiso, which is a Promotora network, and health agencies across the country, have shown that the grassroots educator model is a very successful approach.

Evaluation Methods and Results: The presentation will address select data from studies and demonstrate why the grassroots educator concept is effective in reaching underserved or “hard-to-reach” Hispanic communities. The approach used to package the “Spot the Block” information needed to be both translated and made relevant to the Hispanic population taking into consideration no or low awareness of the Nutrition Label and culturally relevant foods that were more often consumed. Changes were made to the materials as well as the training protocol to address population needs. The grassroots educator model has evolved dramatically over the past few decades, and community educators for Spot the Block participated in a dynamic exchange within the community. BPR found that, more than location, finding an educator who was well known in the community was of utmost importance. 

Conclusions: Grounding this program in Social Cognitive Theory, focusing on meeting parents and tweens “where they were” both physically and knowledge-wise, and employing several best practices strategies created an effective campaign to increase awareness of the Nutrition Facts Label, increase understanding of the Label, and influence healthy eating behaviors.

Implications for research and/or practice: Behavior change campaigns must take into account the cultural, socioeconomic, and daily reality of the populations they wish to influence and provide small amounts of applicable and accessible information that can be easily incorporated into daily routines.