Dietary Habits in Rural Guatemala Adolescent Women

Joaquin Barnoya, MD, MPH, associate professor of surgery, has been funded by the Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science Research, part of The New York Academy of Sciences. The project, The effect of occupations and school attendance on rural adolescent girls’ nutritional status in Guatemala: a mixed methods study, will identify the risk factors associated with poor diet and physical activity in Guatemalan rural female adolescents.

Yikyung Park, ScD, associate professor of surgery, will work with Dr. Barnoya on the dietary assessment needs in Guatemala. The end goal is to develop information interventions to improve access to healthy diets, especially among young women who do not attend school, but rather help with household chores or are employed during traditional high school years. The project is funded as one of six 2017 Sackler Institute projects, and will be conducted in rural Guatemala in collaboration with Peter Rohloff, MD, PhD, chief medical officer at Wuku Kawor, Maya Health Alliance.

Related Publications:

Godin KM, Chacón V, Barnoya J, Leatherdale ST. The school environment and
sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among Guatemalan adolescents. Public Health Nutr. 2017 Nov;20(16):2980-2987. doi: 10.1017/S1368980017001926. Epub 2017 Aug 14. PubMed PMID: 28803573.

Madrigal L, Adams I, Chacon V, Barnoya J. Perceived barriers to achieving a
healthy weight: a qualitative study using focus groups at public and private
schools in Guatemala City. BMC Public Health. 2017 Jan 5;17(1):16. doi:
10.1186/s12889-016-3978-9. PubMed PMID: 28056912; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC5217558.

Mazariegos S, Chacón V, Cole A, Barnoya J. Nutritional quality and marketing
strategies of fast food children’s combo meals in Guatemala. BMC Obes. 2016 Dec
8;3:52. eCollection 2016. PubMed PMID: 27980796; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC5146808.