By Michael Morton
“It's a problem,” she said Saturday through a translator after stopping by a neighborhood event designed to raise awareness about obesity in the Hispanic population. “We come from different countries. We are a poor people and we have a lot of problems. We eat more than we should.”
The event was held at the Corona Food Plaza by the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition, a coalition of food companies, trade associations and health experts formed last year. Representatives from the group spoke to several hundred people at midday about eating properly and getting exercise. They handed out pamphlets, while a chef from a Latino restaurant cooked up healthy treats and passed out recipes.
Nearly 25 percent of Hispanics in the United States were deemed obese in 2001, a sharp increase from the approximately 12 percent who were categorized as such in 1991, according to the council.
Obesity can lead to medical problems such as diabetes, prompting the group to start an effort to reverse the trend, beginning in Corona at the Food Plaza. Like other supermarkets in Hispanic areas, the store is not only a place to buy groceries but also a center of the community.
“The people we talked to said, 'Go to where the food is,'” said Dr. Susan Finn, chairwoman of the organization.
Finn said food plays a key role in Hispanic culture, but Deleon and other community members said their cooking often involved a lot of flour, oil and fat. Boredom and stress, such as Deleon described, can lead to overeating, members of the council said, while lifestyles in American neighborhoods such as Corona tend to be less active than those back home.
“We have traditional ways of eating and living, but we come here and become acculturated,” said council adviser Cecilia Pozo Fileti, whose family is from Ecuador and who runs Latino Health Communications in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Fileti cautions that obesity is a complex problem with no easy solution, but she said people at risk could start by getting more exercise and making small changes in how often certain foods are eaten, how they are cooked and how much of them are consumed.
Banning high-fat or high-calorie foods outright does not work, she added, especially when culture is involved.
“We go on the diet yo-yo,” Fileti said.
The nutrition adviser said many traditional foods provided a healthy alternative. At the supermarket, Chef Rafael Palomino of The Pacifico Restaurant in Port Chester, N.Y., served mango peach gazpacho, a cold soup, and ceviche, raw seafood prepared with citrus juice.
“They don't realize the benefit until they have a heart attack,” the chef said of a diet including fruit and vegetables.
With the recent focus on eating well in the United States, Fileti said “Latinos need to and want to be part of that healthy equation.”
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
