New ‘Together We STRIDE’ study hopes to help Latino kids reduce BMI scores

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According to recent news, Dr. Linda Ko is working to implement healthier food and physical activity environments for 900 Latino children in over eight elementary schools in the Lower Yakima Valley, in Washington, where thirty-four percent of the youth are obese.

The new large-scale trial, called “Together we STRIDE”-an acronym standing for “Strategizing Together Relevant Interventions for Diet and Exercise”- will work to reduce the children’s body-mass index (BMI) by teaching families and children to cook and eat healthy meals together at home and in school, and will also include physical activity components like community block party’s that offer free physical activity classes like Zumba and yoga in or around local parks.

A Community Advisory Board has helped lead the groundwork for the larger study, hoping to expand the pilot study started back in 2012, where both studies have been funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Behavioral scientist in the Public Health Sciences Division under Fred Hutch explained that the commitment to the community has been inspirational and that all of their work consists of community members and organizations working together.

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