In response to a high rise of chronic diseases in our South Los Angeles Communities, the Promotores de Salud have created the Son y Sabor de la Salud (SYS) curriculum, a culturally appropriate healthy eating and lifestyle guide designed specifically for underserved Latino populations.  According to a Los Angeles Public Health Department report from April 2007, the Figueroa Corridor in Planning Area 6 (SPA 6) of South Central Los Angeles (sour service area) has the highest rate of childhood obesity (29%), adult obesity (30%), adult diabetes (11.7%), and hypertension (29%) in Los Angeles County.  High rates of obesity in our community also contribute to the prevalence of heart disease, cancer, stroke and depression while it also plays a part in low school performance for children.  Adding to this dilemma, our population is less likely to have health insurance, with 31.7% of adults and 11.3% of children uninsured in our community.  We are constantly challenged with inaccessibility to quality and affordable foods and limited access to physical activity opportunities.

The SYS curriculum has been created and implemented by Promotoras de Salud from Esperanza Community Housing Corporation (Experanza).  The SYS curriculum focuses on three main components: 1) promoting physical activity, 2)promoting healthy nutrition, and 3) promoting environmental change.  This format was developed in response to Promotora feedback who have requested more focused and hands-on experiential learning opportunities in conducting culturally and socioeconomically appropriate healthy cooking and physical activity classes.  There was also an expressed need for demystifying the role of community health workers in policy and advocacy around chronic disease prevention, with special emphasis on preventing diabetes, cancer and other ailments among children and young adults and their families that are tied to obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

As of this we have trained a total of 12 Promotores de Salud, graduates of the Esperanza Community Housing Corporation Community Health Promoters Training Program, Class of 2009, in this curriculum.  We believe that although personal behaviors are historically difficult to impact, Promotores are the agents of change in healthy nutrition and physical exercise given their unique success in promoting other factors of environmental health in our community.

In short, our community is characterized by critical health conditions, few opportunities to exercise, inadequate access to healthy eating options and unhealthy choices at every turn.  The Son y Sabor program will contribute important health elements to our existing programs which are designed to prevent many illnesses and help to manage chronic conditions.