Healthy Chicas is helping the Hispanic community to fight against obesity

Invites hispanic adolescents ages 12 to 18 to participate in the program

Childhood obesity is a problem that carries great consequences in the United States, which has cause massive information and awareness campaigns for communities with the goal to change life styles in children and help them be more active.

According to the Control for Disease Control (CDC) in kids and teenagers from 2 to 19 years of age, obesity levels have remained stable at a 17 percent, which means it affects 12.7 million kids and teenagers in the last decade.

What’s alarming is that due to obesity, kids and youth now suffer diseases that, in the past, only adult people had, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, insomnia, and high cholesterol, to mention a few.

In the Hispanic community, the situation is serious because the levels of obesity among Hispanic children and adults it’s higher than in the white peers.

With this problem in mind, since 2012 Healthy Chicas has been operating. The organization seeks to promote good eating habits in teenagers between 12 and 18 years old, their mothers or legal guardians. The goal in mind is that they have a healthy life style.

Go! Latinos Magazine interviewed Jennifer Caceres, a registered diatecian, who said that the 4-week program, since it started, has helped 45 young women.

“Annually, in the program we work with 15 little girls that along with their mothers, receive tutoring on healthy eating and physical conditioning and training.”

According to Caceres, the program not only has helped young women to lose weight and learn to have an active life style, but also has helped many of them to reconnect with their mothers.

“Mothers and daughters learn about nutrition, they stop eating as many carbohydrates and that has allowed them to have a more active and healthier life,” said Caceres.

According to Caceres, in August they will be starting the next program that was created by experts at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to educate and provide resources to young women and their mothers about weight control, physical activity, healthy lifestyles and a positive body image.